"THE CLUNES LIVED HERE"

Their Life on the Knapp Estate circa 1920 - 1925

You may want to look at the page titled Meet The Clunes first if you haven't already. William and Loretta Clune were the very first caretakers on the Knapp Estate when both Joseph F. Knapp and his sister Claire A. Knapp moved there in October of 1916. Prior to that , William had previously worked for sisters Emma and Elizabeth Lawrence, who were the last year round inhabitants of the Lawrence estate and their brother Frank Mauran Lawrence who divided his time between the mansion he built there about 1907 and Providence, Rhode Island which was the family home of his wife Louise Carlos Mauran . The photos you will see here are probably the oldest ever taken on the Knapp estate land ( other than perhaps private Knapp family photos or their seaplane base photos of 1917 ) that would added into the town of Mastic Beach in 1938.

With very few landmarks to go by other than their caretakers house which was situated on the south side of where Dogwood Road would get cut across the estate June of 1938 and midway between Jefferson and McKinley drives, I would surmise most of these photos are taken very close to the caretaker house. They give a glimpse of how it looked around there in the early 1920s.

These very rare photos surfaced this month (Nov '06) at the 50th wedding anniversary of Len & Monica Clune in California and were graciously sent to me by their daughter Kathy. They were given to her by the children of William "Billy" Clune Jr (1919-1988) the second child of William & Loretta. The other children who you will see in these pics are Mildred who was born in 1916 and Arthur 1921- 1946 .

Loretta Agnes Barrett Clune 1890 - 1961

Mother to Mildred, William, Arthur, Dennis, Charles, and Leonard Clune

Billy , William Sr., & Mildred on the Knapp Estate about 1921

The New Arrival Arthur Henry Clune August 25, 1921

Mildred posing a bit, while Loretta holds baby Arthur and an excited Billy surveys the estate in 1921

perhaps Bill is watching Dodi Knapp take off in one of his airaplanes ? Or Claire Knapp with her Chows?

CHOW TIME

Seven Clairedale Pups putting their heads together

Billy about 1922 the Clunes had their own Clairedale puppy who moved with them to the Pattersquas estate about 1925

the Cat looks like it rather be someplace else....perhaps up in one of those hundreds of trees in the background.

1921 Arthur looks to be about 6 months old here.

"BIKER BILL" about 1921 - 22

Arthur & Billy on the woodpile horse about 1923-24

Ridem' Cowboys Their home on the range is in the background . Notice the handpump with wooden bucket and large flower box on upper window. And lots and lots of trees!!!!

THE CLUNES LIVED HERE ........ DOGWOOD ROAD TODAY
The Knapp estate caretakers residence was located about where that childs playhouse is

Developers Map For Part Of Section 10 June 1938

The Clunes were long gone and living on the Lawson "Pattersquas" Estate when this aerial photo was taken in June of 1938 a week or so after Dodi Knapp sold the bulk of his estate property.The bright white lines are the new roads that are already being cut in. You can still see acres of trees around both their house and the mansion. When Lorretta did the cooking at the mansion it had to be a real nice walk to work.

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