Von Hoffman House

 

   This is what I do every day! I am privileged enough to work in a 129-year old home and share its history with visitors at Medora. Many guests are unfamiliar with the Von Hoffman House's history because it used to be the Medora Doll House. In 2012, TRMF opened the doors to the Von Hoffman House and this the second season it has been open to the public.

   Here's a little history lesson, class: The Marquis de Mores (French aristocrat who started the town of Medora and named it after his wife) started the town in 1883 to support his dream of a cattle processing empire.

                             

          In 1884, Medora's parents (The Baron and Baroness Von Hoffman)
wanted a summer home built in town so they could visit the Marquis and their daughter. The Baroness was involved in commissioning and planning the home, but unfortunately she and the Baron did not live there. By 1884, the Baroness' health was failing, and so was the Marquis' business ventures. It is not likely that the Von Hoffmans ever stayed in the home but there is a remote chance that the Baron may have in the summer of 1885 for a week or two.                                        
                                 

   The Marquis used the home to house some of his workers, including his right-hand-man, William Van Driesche, and in 1890, James Foley Sr. (manager of the Marquis' refrigerated railroad car company) and family. The Foley family actually inhabited a home built (according to newspaper accounts) about the same time and in the same style as the Von Hoffman House, but no photographs or other evidence of the house survive, including the house itself. It burned in 1890, which is when the Foley family moved to the Von Hoffman House.

   In 1886, the Marquis' cattle dreams finally faded. The last steer was processed in the meat plant on November 18, 1886, and the de Mores family and entourage headed back to France vowing to return. The winter of 1886-1887 was one of the worst on record and thousands of free range cattle died on the Plains. The Marquis left his town, home, buildings, and business structures in the care of James Foley Sr. They never returned for long periods of time. The Foleys were then allowed to live in the Von Hoffman House until the de Mores family gave them possession of the home in 1914.

   The Foley Family lived in the house for three generations, and even rented it out to boarders from the 20s to the 40s, until it was sold to Duane Indegaard in 1963. All the furniture (except the piano in the corner of the parlor) was taken by Mrs. Davis, the third generation descendant of James Foley Sr., and used in her home, later being put into storage. Mr. Indegaard opened a museum about the Foley Family in the home. James Foley Jr. was the unofficial Poet Laureate for the state of North Dakota for a time, and the Foley family was prominent in the Medora area. In 1969, TRMF turned it into the Medora Doll House, displaying antique dolls, farm models, and train sets. It remained the Doll House until 2010. Now we have the Von Hoffman house, which I get to spend my days in this summer. Fun, right?

Stay tuned for some detailed descriptions of the rooms in the home!