Stranco, Rt. 50 North, Bourbonnais, IL.

Stranco was bought from my father, Harry Hoffman. He and his parents built the original portion of this house (the north portion of the building) in 1949. They originally operated a restaurant (The Bar-H) in the bottom portion of the house and they lived upstairs in the apartment. The Bar-H was a soda-fountain type restaurant with a long counter and stools. The restaurant closed in the early 1950s. After my Grandfather died in 1955, Dad continued to live there with his mother and they eventually sold the back portion of the property to my Uncle, Dad's brother - Alex Hoffman who developed the subdivision along Cedar Lane behind the property and visible in this photo. After my Grandmother died, Dad married my Mom and they lived in the house in the bottom portion, renting out the upstairs to various renters who they became friends with. Mom and Dad ran a mail order business and patio shop here in the 1960s entitled "Hoffman Haus" Mail Order Gifts and Patio Shoppe. We lived here when I was born and along with my three sisters born after me, until the summer of 1972 when we moved to the suburbs of Chicago. The area visible as a parking lot to the south in the photo, used to be a beautiful yard with various play equipment items that my Dad built.