The Hoffman House

The Hoffman House is one of Antigo’s oldest and most well-known bars and social venues, originally opened in 1885 by one of the town’s early pioneers. Owned by the Hoffman family from 1885 to 1971, both they and later owners took pains to preserve the ornate early 20^th century decorum of the building, with the cabinetry, floor tiling, ceiling, and stained glass windows all remaining authentic to their 1910s origins. Today, it still operates as a popular downtown bar, and also rents rooms on the upper floors.

The original hotel, built at this site in 1885 just when Antigo was incorporated as a city, was known as the Lake Shore House, named for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad (MLS&W), which was the first railway company to run through Antigo. The hotel had 18 rooms and two stories.

The wooden-frame building was remodeled in 1903, and in 1907 a brick veneer was added and a third story was constructed, adding 40 additional rooms, bringing the total number of rooms to 60. Significant upgrades of the interior took place in 1914, with the addition of a writing room, stained glass windows, a remodeled bar, as well as Turkish baths just off the lobby and a bowling alley in the basement. At this time, Antigo’s streets were unpaved; as such, a tunnel was built beneath Fifth Avenue that allowed women to walk from the Hoffman House to the opera house across the street without getting their dresses muddy.

After the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad acquired the MLS&W in 1893, the Lake Shore Hotel changed its name to the Hoffman House, after Joseph Hoffman, the hotel’s builder and proprietor. Hoffman was one of Antigo’s early settlers, who was born in Germany in 1859 and immigrated to Appleton at the age of 9 with his parents. He worked on log drives on the Wolf River, and later helped lay the tracks for the MLS&W when it expanded into Antigo. In 1883, he married and two years later settled down in Antigo, which was then, in his words, “a hole in the woods”. In addition to managing his hotel, he helped pull tree stumps from Fifth Avenue while it was being cleared for traffic.

Joseph’s son, Frank, worked with his father from 1903 onward and took over the Hoffman House when Joseph retired in 1914. The Hoffman family would continue owning and managing the hotel until 1971, when it was sold to Jerome Kaske. After this, the building was nearly demolished before being sold to Florence Nes in 1981, who set about the task of restoring the business’s historic decorum. It was then acquired by Tom Koss, who kept the hotel portion open but shuttered the bar and lounge.

The property was then acquired by Rodney and Tina Hix in 2021, who reopened the cocktail lounge and restaurant, and also converted part of the upper floors into apartments.

DeHart, Rachel. “Hoffman House Gets New Owners.” Antigo Daily Journal, March 26, 2021, Online edition. https://www.antigojournal.com/news/local/hoffman-house-gets-new-owners/article_93f5ae57-27ac-5a7f-85ca-5433974cd791.html.

Desserau, Robert M. “Chapter VII: Taverns, Old Stopping Places, Hotels,” in The History of Language County, p. 18–20. Antigo, WI: Berner Bros. Publishing Co., 1922.

Hoffman, Evelyn. “History of The Hoffman House,” November 28, 1978. Langlade County Historical Society Archives.

Resultan, Eric. “Antigo hotel is restored.” Wausau Daily Herald, February 8, 1987.

Van Goethem, Larry. “Victorian Charm: Antigo Inn Offers a Cozy Trip Back in Time.” Milwaukee Journal, August 2, 1987. Langlade County Historical Society Archives.