West Lake Shore Road

This "Steamboat Gothic" cottage was built in 1861 by William Dean Kelley, youngest son of Datus Kelley. It is one of several houses constructed by members of the Kelley family located along the Island's south shore. 

A rather common Gothic. design of its time, a two-storey center section flanked by single storey wings, it has remained in the Kelley family since it was erected, for the most part used as a summer residence. 

Its builder, William Kelley, had served as a teacher in the Island school and was a veteran of the Civil War. His son, William Datus Kelley, was a civil engineer who surveyed a route for the Intercontinental Railroad through Ecuador and Peru. His grandson, William, was associated with the Nickel Plate Railroad. The present owner is Nancy Kelley, who maintains it as a private summer residence. (She is the last of the Kelleys on the Island who bears the family name.)

From Kelleys Island, A Tour Guide