Former David & Betsy Foote Barn, 30912 Lake Road, c. 1855
The 12th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.
According to Foote genealogy and “Bay Village: A Way of Life,” David Foote was born in Colchester, Connecticut, in 1760 and married Betsy Hamlin of the same town. He served in the Revolutionary War. They had 10 children.
In 1815, David packed up part of his family and moved to Dover Township, settling on Lot 97 in the northwest corner of the township. His 195-acre parcel extended from Lake Erie to the north, what is now Bradley Road to the east, south to what is now Walker Road and west to the Avon line.
David built a log cabin at what is now 30903 Lake Road, then another at 30912 Lake Road for his son. He built a frame house at 30906 Lake Road in 1828 (which was torn down about 1995). Behind the second log cabin David built this barn in the 1850s.
A Foote descendant, Mary Liggett, owned the property in the 1920s. After a period of disuse the barn became the basis for a house conversion in the 1940s. It was painted pink and was known in the community as the “Pink Barn.”
William Krause
William R. Krause, retired as the Assistant Planning Director of the City of Westlake in 2020 after over 30 years with the city. He also served on the Bay Village Planning Commission for 9 years. He was a trustee for the Bay Village Historical Society from 2020 to 2021 and a former board member of the Westlake Historical Society. He was chair of their Lilly Weston Committee and was a member of the Reuben Osborn Learning Center Steering Committee. He is currently a Trustee of the Western Reserve Architectural Historians and the Gates Mills Historical Society. He has been married to Debra for 41 years and is the father of three grown children, grandfather of six and co-owner of a Yellow Lab named Sadie.