Hofmann Inc. is a father/son partnership formed from a 20-year dream of working together that began when Wally and Matthew Hofmann first built a six-story tree house in the backyard of their Eastern High Sierra home in Mammoth Lakes, California.
“I joke about calling the company, Matt & Dad,” says Wally, the elder of the partnership, “because the firm’s president is my 28-year-old son, Matthew.” As a California licensed Architect, Matthew is the chief designer, imaginer, creator and captain of the ship.
The dynamic duo now own and operate two businesses in downtown Santa Barbara. Hofmann Architecture – aka HofArc, is a residential and commercial design firm and a more traditional business, but the other? AirstreamPlanet – a vintage Airstream design and renovation company – is quite unique
As architects, the firm has faired well designing six, high-end homes in 2011. But it’s been the Airstream renovation business that been the attention-getting “Recession-buster.” As a result of the popularity and great press, they company has added six new job hires and/or subcontractors. In the past 12 months, Airstream Planet has renovated eight silver Airstream travel trailers for clients around the world.
Airstream is an 80-year American travel trailer classic that has is known as the “Rolls Royce of RVs.” There are current orders for six more Airstream renovations in addition to four exports to Australia.
Matthew believes the reason for the renovated Airstream trailer phenomena is a mixed fascination with nostalgia and technology. “Their aluminum skins and aerodynamic curves are eye candy magnets,” he adds. Inside, the firm’s contemporary, simplistic, clean lines and high-tech functionality complements the timeless appeal of their exterior.
“There’s a movement back to our past,” says Matthew, who’s also been bitten by the nostalgia bug. He lived in an Airstream for a year.
Matthew cites Americans as “idealist risk-takers, willing to dream big.”
Airstream was created in the 1930s by such an entrepreneur named Wally Byum. Estimates are that of the 100,000 Airstreams built, more than 75% are still roadworthy today. The Hofmann’s Airstream brand also embraces a broader design philosophy that balances a respect of the past with forward-thinking concepts.
“The Baby Boomers left us many great examples – some, like the Airstream’s exterior design, we should repeat, while others, like the Airstream’s 1970s-style chopped-up, dust-magnet interiors we should not. My job is to take smart design and seamless function to a higher, more human, level,” says the younger Hofmann.
