For generations the representation of Chalet imagery has influenced the global perception of the Swiss chalet. While early adaptations of the timber structures were built by English and French travelers abroad – as pubs, houses, or hotels. The first print description of an idealized chalet was for the pattern book The Architecture of Country Houses, written by English landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing in 1850. Later the catalogues by the mercantile company Sears Roebuck & Co. began offering chalet inspired kit-of-parts for purchase, making Swissness accessible through the character of a home. The installation “Chalet-ish” – an alienated representation of the chalet – houses a selection of books that convey the appearance of the typology. This includes children’s books that represent alpine events, picture books with chalets in Switzerland and abroad, construction drawings that translate chalet imagery into American construction, and the official reference portfolio that defines the Swiss theme codes for New Glarus, Wisconsin. Altogether they display a version of Swissness accessible to the world.