Melanie Schmuck doesn’t have a large shoe collection. She has a collection of large shoes.
There’s an oversized mailbox shaped like a shoe and a shoe-shaped dog house large enough for a Great Dane. But the biggest shoe by far is five stories tall and sits on an acre of land in York, Pa. near the Susquehanna River. It even has a name: the Haines Shoe House, an enduring, whimsical fixture of roadside America since it welcomed its first guests nearly 70 years ago.
Schmuck, a recreational baker, and her husband Jeff, a realtor, reopened the Shoe House in 2015 as a rather unusual ice cream parlor/bake shop after a marathon couple of weeks of renovations and restorations. It had operated as a similar business for 13 years before the couple took over, but under different owners, with hours mostly “by chance” and a much more limited menu. The Schmucks, who both grew up here, decided that if they were going to do this, they would do it right — with regular hours, a longer season, more desserts and tours. They turned the upstairs floors into a historic house museum, scouring local flea markets and antique stores for period pieces to match old photos of the Shoe House in its early years.
“Money can’t buy happiness, but with this, it came close,” said Mel, who had been a project manager before coming to work full-time at the Shoe House.
There Was a Nice Couple Who Purchased a Shoe …
Jeff had first toured the structure as part of his day job in real estate. He was smitten. But when he took his wife back for a visit, it wasn’t open. It didn’t matter, though — she fell in love with it, too. So on a whim, they wrote a letter to the owners explaining to them how they would like to take over as the next stewards of the house. It wasn’t for sale at the time, but a year later, the call came. It was theirs if they wanted it.
The couple traded one shared passion for another; they sold their collection of classic VWs and bought the Haines Shoe House in February, 2015. And then they got to work.
The ice cream shop now features a reconfigured dining area and small commercial kitchen in what was once the garage in the sole of the shoe. A guest house-turned-museum sits above, with a private honeymoon suite on the main level (in the “toe” of the shoe), a full eat-in kitchen with sweeping curved banquette on the next level and private quarters on the top two progressively smaller levels. That’s a lot comfortably squeezed into a deceptively small amount of space.
In the past few years, thousands of visitors from near and far have come for some ice cream and to see York County’s strangest home for themselves. It’s decorated to resemble its earliest years as closely as possible, right down to a vintage issue of National Geographic laying open on a coffee table, just like in an old black-and-white photo Mel and Jeff found from the late-1940s.
“So, does anyone live in the shoe?” asks one young patron, wide-eyed and intrigued on a recent summer afternoon.
“No … well, at least I hope not,” deadpanned Mel. She’s had plenty of practice to perfect her timing; it is easily the most-asked question she gets, but she doesn’t seem to tire of it. Or any of the questions, in fact. Like many small business owners, she wears a lot of hats, although admittedly, this entrepreneur’s day job is somewhat unique. She bakes, gives tours, curates a historic house museum, paints fences and makes scooping ice cream all day look deceptively easy. But she’s a natural hostess and story teller who entertains hundreds of guests each week with expert knowledge and funny anecdotes about the famous Shoe House. Which, she points out, is actually shaped like a boot.
Shoe House History
The Shoe House was finished in 1949 by another entrepreneurial Yorker, Mahlon N. Haines (1875–1962), who owned a thriving chain of low-cost, high-volume shoe stores — at that time, 48 of them in Pennsylvania and Maryland, along with interests in two manufacturing companies, a hotel, a racetrack and assorted other construction concerns. He was known as The Shoe Wizard.
A successful showman and tireless promoter with a wonderful sense of humor, Haines cooked up a sales promotion for his shoe stores after being inspired by programmatic architecture on the West Coast during a trip to Los Angeles. Winners would get a week-long, all-expenses-paid vacation. They’d stay in a modern, private retreat with their own maid and a chauffeur-driven Studebaker at their disposal. Oh, and the house would be … in York … shaped like a shoe … with his smiling face in stained glass on the front door. Hand-lettered next to his caricature is “Haines The Shoe Wizard,” in all caps for good measure.
The house was an instant success, attracting national attention and coverage including a multi-page feature in Life magazine. At first, guests were elderly couples selected by the mayors of towns where Haines had stores; within several years, he was inviting newlyweds to honeymoon there.
After Haines retired and then passed away, the chain was broken up among his managers and the showplace Shoe House eventually passed through a series of owners. It only served as a private home for a very short period of time — and an antiques store for a bit, too. Other than that, the Shoe House has been an ice cream parlor, on and off, for a good part of those intervening years.
What’s New at the Shoe?
One of the first orders of business for Mel as they reopened was to find a purveyor with just as storied a history. She found it in Beck’s Ice Cream, a local fixture easily recognizable for Yorkers of a certain age.
Today the Shoe House is one of only a few select places serving Beck’s by the scoop. They have a special arrangement with the semi-retired York fixture himself, and the ice cream is so popular that she has to have it delivered almost daily during the busy times of year. It’s available in a cone, dish or in a tall glass to make an old-school ice cream soda (Beck’s also makes an exclusive frozen treat just for the Shoe House, a crave-worthy raspberry-and-chocolate ice cream sandwich that is pure heaven!).
Also top sellers on the menu: classic chocolate brownies in the distinct shape of a shoe, and big fluffy slices of angel food cake. The cake is a family recipe passed down from Mel’s papa, a fitting tribute to another man who was larger-than-life, like Haines. She also serves a variety of other freshly-baked treats, like fudge and cake pops, and shelves tucked around the parlor hold Shoe House souvenirs like magnets, Christmas ornaments and postcards.
Since the Schmucks took over the Shoe House, its official guest book had visitors sign in from 48 states and about 30 countries. Qatar is the one that stands out in Mel’s mind as the most noteworthy; she was surprised by Beijing, China, too. Now, she’s on a mission to collect signatures from all 50 states: “Did you sign the guest book?” she often calls out between conversations at the counter.
So, what else is next for the young couple who owns a giant shoe? Perhaps they should start hosting small weddings, a helpful patron suggests while waiting for his cone.
Mel paused thoughtfully for a second, ice cream scoop in mid-air. Then her face lit up. “Yes, I love it! Come tie the knot in a shoe!” she exclaimed.
She is only half joking.
If You Go
The Haines Shoe House is seasonal, with regular hours basically from the first day of spring through Halloween. There’s no admission fee to get into the Ice Cream Shop or take pictures outside. Guided tours are $5 for adults (free for children) and available for walk-ins and larger groups by appointment.
Local Tip: If you’re on Rt. 462, the road is marked, but pay close attention if you’re heading east — it’s on your left, and much easier to miss from that direction. Look for the opportunistically named Shoe House Self Storage as a landmark for where to turn.
Exact days and hours vary depending on the time of year, so be sure to call ahead or check their website.
Summer hours began Memorial Day and run through Labor Day: closed Mondays and Tuesdays; open Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Between Labor Day and Halloween it’s open 11 a.m.–5 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only; closed from Halloween until the first day of spring the following year.
Guided & Group Tours
- Available during normal business hours
- There’s no charge to visit the Ice Cream Shop or to take pictures outside
- Guided tours are $5 for adults
- Children under 5 are free (must be accompanied by a guardian)
- Discounts for groups of 15+
- Call ahead to schedule large groups
- Bus tours are welcome
Find Haines Shoe House at 197 Shoe House Rd., York; phone: (717) 683-6328.
- Interior photos (excluding stained glass) and bottom exterior photo: Matthew Vlahos
- Remaining photos: Haines Shoe House
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