Hofmann Furniture and Undertaking

This small, elegantly simple complex on South 3rd Street bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the Bolln complex (buildings 21 and 22) located on North 2nd Street. Although free-standing, whereas the latter complex is attached to adjacent structures, both its overall configuration and the manner in which that configuration materialized is virtually identical to that of the Bolln buildings. The man behind the 3rd Street complex, C. H. Hofmann, employed the same entrepreneurial strategies as that of his slightly older business neighbor: using the profits from one enterprise to finance the development of another, he built as necessity dictated, and as economics allowed. However, in contrast to George Bolln’s dual focus on two close, commercial relations—groceries and dry goods—Hofmann’s twin enterprises were as disparate as can be imagined. The single-story part of the complex, constructed around the turn of the century, was first used to house Hofmann’s upholstery and furniture business, which he began shortly after arriving in Douglas in 1905. In the following year, Hofmann purchased a local undertaking practice and apparently worked both businesses out of the same small structure for a time—with, one can safely assume, the utmost attention to detail. By 1912, however, Hofmann had attached to the smaller building a two-story addition for his growing furniture business, which subsequently thrived for another two decades. Despite some modifications to the ground floor façade of the two-story structure, the complex has, for the most part, retained its historic character across time and is fairly representative of early commercial architecture in Douglas. One half of Hofmann’s professional skill set was also employed in the public sector, where he served as the Converse County Coroner, from 1918 until his retirement in the early 1940’s.