Saturday, October 9, 2010

Haines Shoe House

As we were driving to the Harley Davidson factory, I saw a house shaped like a shoe.  I hadn't heard anything about it so I had to look online when we got back home.

This is what I found: The Shoe House, built in 1948, was by far "Colonel" Mahlon N. Haines' most outlandish advertising gimmick. It is a wood frame structure covered with wire lath and coated with a cement stucco. It measures 48 ft. in length, 17 ft. in width at the widest part and 25 ft. in height. The interior consists of five different levels and contains three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and living room.

This giant structural advertisement was originally used as a guest 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.

4 comments:

Tonya @ The Traveling Praters said...

I love it! My family watched a documentary about unusual roadside attractions to see in the US- can't remember the title- but the shoe house was included in the line-up. Since then they've wanted to visit this unique structure. It was open for tours- I wonder if that is still true? Blessings! :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I love stuff like this! Great find -- thanks for sharing.

jaci said...

Catching up on all your posts (love the fall colors) -- this one really captures my attention. What the heck? Really kind of cool... :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Happy to hear from you on FT-L. I had noticed you not popping up on my Google Reader. (well, that didn't make sense at all, but you know what I mean). Hope you're traveling safe and/or have reached a happy stopping place.