The Haines Shoe House is a shoe

Shoe

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...

-shaped house in Hallam, Pennsylvania

Hallam, Pennsylvania

Hallam is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,673 at the 2010 census.-History:Before 1736, all parts of Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna River, including present-day Hallam Borough and the surrounding Hellam Township, were land of the Iroquois.In October...

, along the Lincoln Highway

Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...

.

Modeled after a work boot, the house was built by shoe salesman Mahlon Haines in 1948 as a form of advertisement. Among his various companies, he owned a company that likes to claim that they raised boots "hoof-to-hoof" because the company did the boot making process starting with raising the cattle. The house, which is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall and contains five stories

Storey

A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...

, was once rented out to couples, and is now open for public tours. It is located on Shoe House Road, next to a shoe-shaped doghouse

Doghouse

A doghouse, known in British English as a kennel, is a small shed commonly built in the shape of a little house intended for a dog. It is a structure in which a dog is kept or can run into for shelter from the elements.-Architecture:...

. Haines had the building built by handing a work boot to an architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 saying, "Build me a house like this." He lived in the shoe house for a short while but ended up moving into a house across the street. The renters were served by a maid and butler and then received free pairs of shoes when they left. A Shoe House vacation contest was held which was won in 1950 and had all expenses paid by Mahlon Haines. Fire escape

Fire escape

A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...

s were added to the house in the 1960s.

The living room is located in the toe, the kitchen is located in the heel, two bedrooms are located in the ankle, and an ice cream shop is located in the instep. When Mahlon decided to sell the house, it started going to ruin until it was bought by his granddaughter Annie Haines Keller in 1987. The current owners are Carleen and Ronald Farabaugh who bought the house in 2004. The house received a small renovation and new paint in 2007. There is also a stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

 panel that shows Mahlon holding a pair of shoes with a message below it that reads, "Haines the Shoe Wizard". Visitors can stand on the observation platform. During the 2004 opening after the Farabaughs bought the property, boy scouts

Boy Scouts

A Boy Scout is a member of a Scouting organization. There are thousands of national Scouting organizations or federations; these are grouped into six international Scouting associations with some non-aligned organizations....

 ran Easter egg hunts there. Mahlon's family told stories about their relative and an author sold copies of his book The Life and Times of Mahlon Haines.

The Shoe House was visited in the eighth season

The Amazing Race 8

The Amazing Race 8 is the eighth installment of the reality television show The Amazing Race...

 of the reality television series The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...

and was featured on HGTV

HGTV

HGTV , is a cable-television network operating in the United States and Canada, broadcasting a variety of home and garden improvement, maintenance, renovation, craft and remodeling shows...

's What's With That House. The Farabaughs are happy about the publicity although they were unable to talk about the house appearing on The Amazing Race until two years later.

External links

• Hellam Township page about the house
• The Haines Shoe House at the Historic American Buildings Survey
  Historic American Buildings Survey
  The Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...