David Woerheide: North Shore Sign and Rustic Furniture Artist

Chuck Olsen | January 8, 2025

If you’ve driven up Highway 61 through Cook County, you’ve likely seen the work of Lutsen sign-maker and furniture artist Dave Woerheide.

“I did the Gunflint Tavern sign and Joan Drury’s Bookstore sign, I’ve painted the Sven and Ole sign. I didn’t originally do it, but I repainted it once,” says Woerheide. “I’ve done a lot of work for Lutsen Resort, for Bluefin and lots of work for Caribou Highland, all the signs at Clearview General Store and lots and lots of driveway signs.”

Woerheide has been a North Shore resident since his father retired from the U.S. Forest Service and moved the family to Lutsen in 1988. Initially, he wasn’t too keen on living up north.

“I wanted to be a professional skateboarder at the time, and this was the North Shore. It’s cold up here all winter, and it was shocking. I just didn’t want to be up here,” says Woerheide. “It took a little while to get used to it, and then it grows on you,. Now I don’t want to leave. I would not want to be where it’s super hot and humid. I like it right here in the summertime, especially with Lake Superior right out my window.”

Woerheide began his sign-making career while working at what is now Caribou Highlands resort in Lutsen. Because he had neat handwriting, he was responsible for making chalkboard signs at the resort. “One day my manager came up to me and [said] ‘Hey, we’re going to do a billboard on the Ski Hill Road. Do you think you could paint it?’ And I said, I can try!”

Building that first billboard led to more locals seeing his work and to more sign commissions, including Clearview General Store and Lockport Marketplace.

“It just kind of snowballed after that. My friend Pete came up here and we started the business basically together,” says Woerheide. He now runs the business himself as Border Designs.

In addition to commercial and driveway signs, Woerheide makes rustic furniture including agate tables. Since learning how to build furniture in high school, his love of the North Shore influenced his preference for creating rustic work with cedar and diamond willow.

“I love the lake and […] the rustic curvature of a natural piece of wood for a leg on a table, or a really cool big slab of wood that came off of a sawmill. That’s the kind of stuff I like because it’s sort of organic and closer to the earth.”

Finding and learning about agates has been a life-long passion for Woerheide, thanks to his father. “He was super into collecting mineral specimens and rocks. A lot of our family vacations and adventures revolved around going somewhere to find this particular agate,” says Woerheide. “We have all the lapidary equipment and the rock saws and the tumblers. It’s in my family and we’re all addicted.”

For the last 20 years, Woerheide has translated his skill and passion for agates into custom tables with inlaid agates and petrified wood. His agate work can be seen at North Shore Winery and Drury Lane Books, in addition to many private homes.

Asked if he still finds time to go agate hunting, Woerheide says, “I try to make time. I probably shouldn’t make time, but I do it anyway because I just it’s my happy place and my peace of mind.”