What the Room Knew

Baker House 1650 in Easthampton intuits something most places miss: setting is essential when it’s in service of something real. Built in 1648 and purchased by  one of East Hampton’s founders Thomas Baker two years later, the house served as the town’s first tavern and meeting place—a place for drinks, debates, decisions, and beginnings. No coincidence, then, that Laura chose this spot for our journaling session.  

We weren't in the Inn itself but its Carriage House by the glistening pool, tucked away from everything else, which is where you want to be when you're sitting with strangers and gazing on your own experience like you would the main building, preparing to write and then recite your own stories of the past. 

Antonella, who manages the place, made sure our afternoon arrival was warm— impeccable details handled just so, our needs pre-considered, welcomed without fuss. Laura Rubin's long table was set with vases of just-picked flowers and Biography’s jewel-toned glass bottles running down the center. Fire crackling, candles flickering, soft afternoon light steady—it was the sort of space that embraces you gently, encourages you to exhale, stop, land. 

We were there to journal, which sounds simple until you're actually doing it. What to say? What will the others think? How do I translate this from emotion to words?

But something about the room, the energy, the light made it easier to open, facilitated sharing. The structure is deliberately simple: Laura creates an environment where people sit together and write from prompts she gives. Then—if they choose—anyone can read or discuss what’s surfaced. What follows is unfiltered conversation. People surprise themselves, laugh, cry, and often reveal things for the first time. I sat next to a bread baker from Southern California living in Montauk whose story about her relationship to family I'm still thinking about. 

Baker House could have used that space on a Fall Saturday for reception or a tasting or a dozen easier things. The Inn’s architecture is inspired after all by 17th century Cotswold design—the same region that inspired authors John Milton, Jane Austen, and J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s now a luxury get-away, a destination for weddings and gatherings–the ideal match for Biography’s face oils.

Instead, they opened the doors to a room built for attention for a kind of gathering whose inspiration comes from deep within the unseen. You don’t need the fire or the flowers for that, of course. But it helps when the people who set the table understand what’s actually on it.