The Hoffstadt-Chambers Home

521 E. Main Street

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 were Madison artists. The home was built in three 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 construction (a common dividing wall between two houses).

Renovations

Little changed during the years that the Hoffstadt sisters resided here. When purchased in 1986 after Julietta’s death, the home did not have an indoor bathroom, running water upstairs, or electricity. Burton and Kathy Chambers lovingly brought this home back to life and saved a jewel in historic Madison before it was later 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.
• 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 is now a lampstand, primary bedroom furniture was originally Stephen’s parents, and an antique birdcage is now a floor lamp.
• Several original works of art can be found in the home, including a landscape painted by Julietta 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 Julietta Hoffstadt, resided in the pink bedroom upstairs during the filming of the 1975 movie, “A Girl Named Sooner” in Vevay, IN.