Ruth Miller's husband, Bud, knew something was up when his wife announced, "I bought a shoe."
The Shoe House seems to bring out the punster in everyone. “This place has sole.” “It’s bootiful.” “Think they sell shoe-fly pie here?” But this unusual building inside and out is warm and welcoming, a clever little house, cozy and homey. Toetally.
Built in the late 1940s by Mahlon Haines, who owned several shoe stores and liked to call himself the Shoe Wizard, this structure-from-a-nursery-rhyme was a brilliant and eye-catching advertising gimmick with three bedrooms and two baths.We stopped and talked with Ruth and Bud Miller in July 2003, shortly after they put the place up for sale. We spend almost a full day there, and Randy Garbin, the editor of By The Way magazine met us to talk about this goofy and unforgettable place.Ruth and Bud loved the place but they were ready to sell. Since then, Carleen and Ronald Farabaugh have bought the Shoe and are working hard to preserve and improve the wonderful building, trying to get it on the National Register of Historic Places. In April 2004, they even commissioned a short biography: The Life And Times of Mahlon Haines that they now sell at the Shoe House.
NOTE:
Rick and his crew did a story about the Shoe House in the early 90s when Mahlon Haines’ granddaughter owned the place. That story was featured in a program called THE PENNSYLVANIA ROAD SHOW.
Built in the late 1940s by Mahlon Haines, who owned several shoe stores and liked to call himself the Shoe Wizard, this structure-from-a-nursery-rhyme was a brilliant and eye-catching advertising gimmick with three bedrooms and two baths.
We stopped and talked with Ruth and Bud Miller in July 2003, shortly after they put the place up for sale. We spend almost a full day there, and Randy Garbin, the editor of 
Ruth and Bud loved the place but they were ready to sell. Since then, Carleen and Ronald Farabaugh have bought the Shoe and are working hard to preserve and improve the wonderful building, trying to get it on the National Register of Historic Places. In April 2004, they even commissioned a short biography: The Life And Times of Mahlon Haines that they now sell at the Shoe House.
