YORKLYN, Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania has all kinds of lodging options: quaint bed and breakfast homes, massive resorts, rustic mountain lodges.
There is nothing, though, like a little lodging option near Hallam, Pennsylvania. It just may be the weirdest, quirkiest, kitschiest rental in America.
Welcome to The Haines Shoe House, a Pennsylvania landmark that has more questions than answers, more gasps than praise and more photo opportunities than anything else in central Pennsylvania.
Mahlon Haines, the self-proclaimed "Shoe Wizard," built this home in the late 1940s and now, generations later, Naomi Brown and husband, Waylon, share it with the world.
"I actually knew the former owner," Naomi said. "He came to me when it was time for him to sell and move on in life. And I, of course, fell in love with the Shoe House, like most people do. We started talking, and the rest is history. Here we are as the owners of the Shoe House."
Chuck's Big Adventure in Pennsylvania: The Haines Shoe House
Naomi said the Shoe House was put into service in 1949 and was originally built with the intention of being a guest house for the builder, who owned a chain of shoe stores.
"He actually bought it with the intention of raffling off stays in the Shoe House to people who would buy his shoes in his stores," Naomi said. "There were many guests who came and stayed at the property over the next 20 years of the home’s life, and he would actually provide a maid and a chauffeur for the people who stayed, as well. So, it was a very special experience and truly one of a kind."
For the 1940s, it was a brilliant way to market the Haines' shoe business.
"Mahlon Haines, and he dubbed himself the ‘Shoe Wizard’ because he was a marketing genius, which was unusual back in the 1940s," Naomi said. "He loved to just kind of bring a special joy and uniqueness to people. And this Shoe House was definitely one of those items. "
To look at the house from the nearby four-lane roadway, it looks rather compact, and guests are shocked to see how much room is in the house.
"I think they're surprised by the fact that there's actually three bedrooms and two bathrooms," Naomi said. "I don't think most people expect that there's that much space there. And they're also curious what it's built out of, so it's actually a wood frame with Stucco over the outside, surrounding the whole exterior of the property. We did a lot of work to just kind of freshen it back up and bring it back to the life that it had before."
Naomi said that work included redoing some stained-glass windows and furnishing the property with new décor.
"People really enjoy that," Naomi said. "We have a whole range of people who really enjoy the Shoe House. We've decorated it to try and kind of bring back the memories of the 1950s, since that's what it was built. A lot of people who may be our older folks appreciate the nostalgia of that time period. We also have a lot of young families with children who just love, like the charm and the unique character of the Shoe House. And of course, you have the nursery rhyme, 'The Old Lady Who Lived in the Shoe.' And children just love that and really enjoy it."
When the shoe was built, it was in a mainly rural area. But now, thousands of people pass by it every day.
"This was here actually before this highway was even built in the 1970s," Naomi said. "It goes back, and a lot of people have longtime connections of when this property was built, and it's kind of a local icon because so many people grew up driving past on the highways and seeing this building here. I definitely have heard people who commented, through interactions we had or social media, that their grandfather worked for the construction company who helped build it, or their aunt was the one of the first guests who stayed here. There's a lot of connection to the people and the community, which helps to make it something really special, too."
It may be the world’s biggest shoe – who knows – but at 25 feet high and 48 feet long, it certainly is the world’s largest shoe house.
In case you are wondering...the living room is in the toe. The kitchen is in the heel and two of the bedrooms are in the ankle.
You won't be a heel if you think it's tacky, but most visitors think the Shoe House is a modern day wonder and is a place filled with sole....I mean soul!