Marius Tuttle/Dwyer Family house, 25617 Lake Road, c. 1902

When paperhanger Harry Stewart signed and dated the plaster wall in July 1902 he did future historians a big favor! Photo by Marjorie Dwyer

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The 28th 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.

Marius Tuttle was born in a log cabin in 1839 to Dover pioneers Dexter and Amelia Tuttle. In 1852 he moved with his parents and siblings to the Greek Revival home which still stands at 25547 Lake Road.

According to Flora Tuttle Renfrew (in “Retracing Footsteps”), Marius “had a great sadness in his young life. The beautiful young school teacher whom he loved very dearly and possibly would have married, was taken very ill and passed on…He never loved again. He was short in stature, good looking and a good man.”

Dexter died in 1878 and Amelia in 1896. Amelia “was blind the last seven years and was taken care of by Marius who never married.” “Bay Village: A Way of Live” states that Marius helped his brother Benjamin transport logs to his sawmill at Columbia and Lake roads when he was home from the ship he captained on the lakes for several years.

Terence G. Dwyer, who purchased 25617 Lake Road with his wife, Virginia, in 1957, did extensive research on this house. One of his notes states that Marius inherited the land upon Dexter’s death and constructed this house for a Mr. Lindsey in 1897. The real estate tax records indicate that a house was actually constructed on the property in 1902 with a possible addition in 1911.

A Mr. C. E. Lindsey/Lindsley paid taxes on personal property in Bay Village from 1903 to 1908. Since Mr. Lindsey did not own any real estate in Bay this corroborates the story of his renting the house from Marius, however it likely started in 1903, not 1897. Marius died in 1906 and the property passed to his brother Ezra and nephew Edward.

The subject property was then reduced in size to two acres and sold to Simon Frutkin in 1909, Sam Frutkin in 1911 and back to Ezra and Edward Tuttle in 1912.

Terence Dwyer notes that it may have been traded to a Mr. James Gormsen for a block of stores at 18520-22 Detroit Avenue in 1914, then back to E.W. Tuttle in 1916, Walter Russell in 1919, Sheldon Hird in 1925, Cora Frazier in 1933, Robert Leslie in 1945, and Howe Stidger in 1952. Along the way the property was reduced in size to about two-thirds of an acre.

After they purchased the property in 1957, Terence and Virginia Dwyer had local builder Krumweide design an addition that was artfully added at an oblique angle to the original gambrel-roofed, combination Shingle style and Colonial Revival style house.

They raised their three children in the house and Virginia became the human resources director for Bay Village. In this capacity she started the first senior services program in Bay until her tragic death from cancer in 1985. The Dwyer Memorial Senior Center was named in her honor.

Virginia had planted a garden to complement the house and when widower Terry remarried in 1990, his second wife Marjorie Dwyer added more old-fashioned plantings. As a result, the garden received a Historic Garden Award from the Bay Village Historical Society.

When repairing some wallpaper they found that the plaster beneath was signed and dated by the wallpaper hanger in July 1902. Terry died in 1998 and Marjorie lived in the house until 2005. It was around this time that Marjorie sought a century plaque for the house.

The County Auditor stated that the house was not built until 1925 and we did not have the skills to assess the research done by Terry, for the house that Marjorie told me recently, he so loved. The home is now owned by his grandson. The Dwyer family connection is now 66 years for the 122-year-old house.