The John Huntington Estate
The 23rd-25th in a series of articles to be published as a walking tour of Lake Road by the Bay Village Historical Society in 2026. The articles profile the oldest to the newest minimum-century-old artifacts.
Water Tower, 28728 Lake Road, c. 1886
In 1881 John Huntington bought this property for construction of a summer home and “gentleman’s farm”. Tax records indicate that it was in 1886 when this tower was constructed. Its purpose was to house tanks to hold water pumped up from the lake for irrigation of his orchards and vineyards.
John Huntington died in 1893 and his heirs sold the property to the Cleveland Metroparks in 1926. The base of the tower was used for a concession stand and a cupola was added to the roof in 1936 creating a profile that resembled a lighthouse. The cupola was removed in the 1980s. More recently the pump house was removed from the beach and the old concession stand removed and rebuilt and the wood siding restored.
The tower was originally constructed by George Cooley, a Dover native who taught school in Dover in the 1880s and worked as a general contractor in the summers. George was from a prominent Dover pioneer family. He went on to become an innovative road builder, form the Ohio Farm Bureau, and found what later became Nationwide Insurance.
Huntington Mounting Block, 28728 Lake Road, c. 1886
John Huntington was a Cleveland businessman, inventor, politician and philanthropist. He emigrated directly to Cleveland from England in 1854. He joined an oil refining business in 1860 and patented many of his inventions for improving furnaces and methods of refining oil. His oil company merged with others to form Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller. He became part owner of a large fleet of lake vessels in 1886 and subsequently vice-president of Cleveland Stone Co.
Huntington was a member of Cleveland City Council from 1862 to 1875. In 1889 he established the John Huntington Benevolent Trust for the eventual benefit of 40 Cleveland charitable institutions. He left money to fund an advanced technical school as well as 70% of the funds used to construct and operate the Cleveland Museum of Art.
This sandstone mounting block was used as a stepping stone to enter and exit carriages. It would have been located near his mansion which was located west of the tower on the north side of Lake Road. The mansion was a mix of Queen Anne and Stick Styles, eventually destroyed by fire.
Gallery House, 28795 Lake Road, c. 1886
The Dianne Boldman Education Gallery, part of the BAYarts campus, occupies this structure from the John Huntington estate. It is a charming building, an intriguing mix of Shingle and Arts and Crafts styles.
Tax records for the 101.66-acre estate show a tremendous jump in value in 1886 from $3,580 to $15,750. This most likely indicates the construction of the water tower and manor house on the north side of Lake Road and the carriage house/barn, and several houses and other ancillary structures on the south side of Lake Road.
“Bay Village: A Way of Life” states that the Warwicks, relatives of the Huntingtons, lived on this part of the estate with the caretaker, Charles Rahl, living in a home behind them. This suggests that this structure was the Warwicks’ house and a less elaborate structure behind it was the caretaker’s house.
The Gallery House’s style is very different from the manor house which may indicate that it was built later. It was first leased in 1967 from the Cleveland Metropolitan Park System by Baycrafters, a non-profit art organization, for art classes and shows.
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.