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Candlewood Knolls was developed as a lake community in
1929 by three men; Albert Jenks, Clarence Martens and Edward Goos. These men
realized the potential of the newly made lake to attract nearby "big city"
residents to the scenic beauty of the area located in a small rural
community. They and others instilled a sense of community in the fledgling
development and the Knolls residents have continued that spirit to this day.
Prior to the Knolls development, the area had been used
as a summer camp - Camp Arden - and before that it was a farm. The camp
buildings and farm buildings provided excellent community centers and are
preserved in the main body of the Clubhouse and the Apartments (the "Farm
House"). With tongue in cheek, and perhaps an eye to posterity, the
developers included their names in the streets Al Mar Go and Clar Ed Al.
Similarly, the Old Town Road (now Candlewood Knolls Road) designation is a
reminder that the highway to the north and west once wound its way through
the developing community.
The northern segment of the Knolls developed first as a
group of vari-colored one and one-and-one-half story cottages. The
acquisition of treed hillside land brought into being the cabin section with
its rustic structures. The Clubhouse serves as the demarcation point so that
structures north of the Clubhouse are cottages and structures south are
rustic cabin types.
View from Overlook Road
The lake visible from most sites is only a small segment
of the total body of water. To adequately view all portions of the lake and
its eighty miles of shorefront requires a boat. Our bay, the New Fairfield
Bay, provides a scenic panorama of natural beauty that changes with the
seasons.
The over-a-mile of Knolls shorefront contains, besides
private docks and beaches, three community swimming areas and three boat
docking facilities. At the North Community Beach there is a swim area, boat
docks, a boat launching ramp and substantial parking. There is limited
parking available at Middle Beach which has boat docks but no swimming
facilities. The Club Beach includes the swim team practice area as well as a
small beach. The South Beach has an expanded beach area, swimming area and
boat docking, but with limited parking.
The Knolls lists, among its assets, the Clubhouse, the
beaches and boat dock facilities, a playground, a ball field, a basketball
court, a tennis court, a central mailbox facility where mail for the
community is delivered by the US Postal Service, an office building and a
central water utility. These assets are maintained by a full-time
maintenance manager with occasional part-time assistants and contractors.
These assets are available to all residents of the Knolls in accordance with
rules and regulations set up for each asset.
Two elected boards administer the community providing for
the care and maintenance of all assets, providing water service to resident
who opt for such service, collecting taxes and otherwise administering to
the needs of the community. All of the assets of the community are owned by
Candlewood Knolls Community, Inc., a private not-for-profit organization to
which all property owners are eligible to join as stockholders. These assets
are administered by the Candlewood Knolls Community, Inc. Board of Directors
elected by the stockholders. All eligible taxpayers of the Knolls, whether
stockholders or not, elect the Board of Directors for the Candlewood Knolls
Tax District, which leases many of the community's assets for the use of all
residents.
Written by John J. Murphy, Knolls Historian |
