Shoe House

The Shoe House built in 1948, was by far Haines' most outlandish advertising gimmick. The building, modeled after a high-topped work shoe, is a wood frame structure covered with wire lath and coated with a cement stucco. It measures 48 feet in length, 17 feet in width at the widest part and 25 feet in height. The interior consists of five different levels and contains three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room. The shoe motif is everywhere--from the design of the stained glass windows to the shoe-shaped dog house and the decoration on the wooden fence that surrounds the property. In the ultimate homage to the shoe and the wizard, the door to the main entrance bears a portrait in stained glass of Haines himself displaying a pair of shoes! This giant structural advertisement was originally used as a quest house.

In the first year after its completion, elderly couples were invited to stay for a weekend and live like "kings and queens" at Haines' expense. They had a maid, cook, chauffeur and automobile at their disposal and the couple was outfitted from head to toe in new clothing donated by local stores.

In 1950 honeymooning couples from any town with a Haines shoe store were invited to stay at the Shoe House. Mahlon Haines left the Shoehouse to his employees upon his death in 1962. The employees sold it to Eleanor Hallman in 1964 who owned it until 1987. For the next twenty years, it was a popular ice cream parlor, with tours of the building an added attraction for curious visitors.

In the Spring of 1987 the Shoe House returned to the Haines family when a granddaughter of the "Shoe Wizard" purchased the building. In 1987 Annie (Haines) Keller and her husband, David, purchased the Shoehouse and did extensive historic renovations to Shoehouse. They owned it from 1987 to 1995. The Shoe House was completely restored and was operated as a museum dedicated to the eccentric "Colonel" Haines.

Ruth and Bud Miller owned the Shoehouse from 1995 to 2003.

In 2003, Carleen and Ronald Farabaugh purchased Shoehouse and have been restoring it and preserving it historically. They recently have had the entire outside of the Shoehouse repainted. It has been featured in a number of publications world wide along with television shows such as the "Great Race."

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