HISTORY
This Italianate double style Hoffstadt-Chambers home was built circa 1842 and occupied primarily by the Hoffstadt family (1854-1986). Sisters Julietta and Etta Hoffstadt, Madison artists, created over 600 pipe cleaner dolls, many now preserved by the Jefferson County Historical Society, and painted many scenes of Madison. The home was built in 3 stages, the earliest of which faced Main St. The design was based on the rapid growth and development of Madison and was constructed in the prevailing tradition of wall to wall (a common dividing wall between two houses) construction.

RENOVATIONS
Little had changed during the years that the Hoffstadt sisters resided in the home and when purchased in 1986 after Julietta’s death, the home did not have an indoor bathroom, running water upstairs, or electricity and was in dire need of complete restoration. Burton and Kathy Chambers lovingly brought this home back to life and saved a jewel in historic Madison before it was purchased by Donna and Stephen Graham.

SPECIAL FEATURES
•The original intricate iron fence with the star pattern surrounding the property was designed and constructed by a local foundry and dates back to 1870. The Grahams had additional pieces manufactured locally to complete the exterior fencing. There are surviving examples of this design at other Madison historic homes.
•Five coal burning fireplaces house the original iron facades and cast iron inserts.
•Current owner, Donna Graham, has recycled and repurposed many of the home’s furnishings. A few to note: the kitchen cabinetry, double bifold doors with original brass doorknob, Donna’s childhood highchair now a lampstand, primary bedroom furniture originally Stephen’s parents and antique birdcage now a floor lamp.
•Several original works of art can be found in the home including a landscape painted by Julie Hoffstadt gifted to husband and wife Madison doctors and recently returned to this house by their daughter, Karen Modisett.
•Academy award winning actor, Cloris Leachman, a friend of Julie Hoffstadt, resided in the pink bedroom upstairs during the filming of the 1975 movie “A Girl Named Sooner”
in Vevay, IN.

.

Legal: Ticket bearers release all private homeowners from any claims that might arise from participation in the Nights Before Christmas Candlelight Tour of Homes.