Huntington House
BAYarts Gallery House
And the John Huntington Estate
Located in the BAYarts Gallery House are the main gallery, classrooms, pottery studio and administration offices.
By 1968, Baycrafters had outgrown the space in the Bay Village Railway Station and the Cleveland Metroparks Huntington Reservation made the classic bungalow style house next-door available to them for lease.
BAYarts Gallery House occupies what was once the John Huntington estate caretaker’s house. The home was probably built after his death in 1893 although the exact date has not been determined.
Huntington purchased the property for his lakeside summer home in 1880 from Adolphus Gender who had farmed the tract .as early as 1859.
John Huntington, inventor, capitalist and cofounder of the Standard Oil Company emigrated from Preston Lancashire England to Cleveland in 1852. The story is that he joined his brother Hugh to start a roofing business and was very successful working in the large city expansion at the time. The brothers roofed one of John D. Rockefeller’s oil refinery buildings and when they were offered payment in oil refinery stock, John and Hugh took part payment in cash and part in stock. Through Huntington’s new interest in the oil refining business and his endeavor to improve the methods used in the oil refining process, he patented many improvements for furnaces, machinery and manufacturing. His company became the greatest refining establishment in the U.S. and with his friend John Rockefeller and other investors, formed the Standard Oil Company.
John’s far looking and adventurous spirit allowed him to acquire considerable wealth. As a business leader, he was elected a member of the Cleveland City Council and served for twelve years. Continuing his interest in the emerging city, he was instrumental in building the Superior Street viaduct, dredging the Cuyahoga River for shipping, building new bridges to accommodate river commerce and establishing a sanitary sewer system for the expanding city.
Four years before his death in London in 1893, he established the John Huntington Benevolent Trust. Huntington’s wish was for the establishment of the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute for the free education of the people of Cleveland and for the foundation of a museum. The magnificent Cleveland Museum of Art opened June 6, 1916 and visitors were able to view the John Huntington fine art collections.
In 1927, The Cleveland Metropolitan Parks Department bought the Huntington family’s country estate to provide Cleveland residents with public access to the Lake Erie Shore.
