John and Maria Pellett House, 26400 Lake Road, c. 1872
The 16th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2025.
John and Maria Pellett were both born in England and immigrated to the U.S. in 1853. By 1857 they were living in Cleveland and purchasing property in Dover. They purchased 58 acres in this location in 1864 and built this home in 1872.
John Pellett is listed as a “Master Machinist” in an 1874 Dover Business Directory. “Bay Village: A Way of Life” states that he farmed the Glen Park area and that his daughter taught school at the Lake Road schoolhouse. Also, that William Lewis did general blacksmithing and at some point the Lewis family occupied this home.
“Retracing Footsteps” has a wealth of information about the Pellett family. John and Maria (and daughter Elizabeth) are buried in Lakeside Cemetery. They left this house to their daughters Elizabeth and Eva and most of the farm to their son Reuben.
The most distinctive part of the house is the curved top of the front windows which are typical of Italianate style homes in the Victorian era. Unfortunately, the replacement windows lack some of the detailing that would have embellished the originals.
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 42 years and is the father of three grown children, grandfather of six and co-owner of a Yellow Lab named Sadie.