Driving up North Sea Road, there’s a little driveway just before Red Horse Market, leading to a large white barn. Parked just outside is a vintage taxi-cab yellow Ford pick-up stacked high with hay bales. Just next to that, a planter with a five-foot-high cactus plant big enough to give a cowboy pause, and a few black Adirondack chairs nestled around a fire pit. It looks more like Houston than the Hamptons, but that’s just how Jenny’s Barn owner Jenny Lauren likes it.
Jenny’s Barn (116 N. Sea Road, Southampton) is a bit of an anomaly on the South Fork. The store is nothing less than far-flung fun, a whimsical dive into the western U.S. that, upon exploring its endless wares, feels like a pretty great day trip with souvenirs — and really good ones. From her original, stunning jewelry pieces to vintage cowgirl (and cowboy) vests, jackets, boots, hats and belts to newer pieces (even some designed by her artist-actor brother, Greg), to art, books, games, purses and even cowboy-themed candy. If the West seemed at one time like an endless source of discovery, Jenny’s shop brings that curious, pioneer vibe to the present.
She is a bit of a chip off the old block. When Jenny, a jewelry designer by trade, was a kid growing up in New York City, she dreamt of the Wild West — but in her family, that American “Go West!” dream runs pretty deep. Her parents, Jerry and Susan Lauren, are well known folk art collectors. Her uncle, Ralph (yes, that Ralph) created one of the most successful and recognizable fashion brands in the world, celebrating two American originals: cowboys and preppies. Jenny’s dad, Jerry — Ralph’s big brother — is the executive VP of men’s design at Polo Ralph Lauren.
“I was initially looking for a space for my jewelry designs,” says Jenny, who grew up spending summers in Amagansett and has long had an affinity for the East End. “But it just grew.”
To hear her talk about its concept, it seems it’s been long in the making with her natural affinity and fascination for the gear, art and craft of Western and Native American culture. The shop is bit of a grown-up playground for its owner, who has Native American and old West pieces from her own personal collection and that of her family alongside vintage rodeo belt buckles, newfangled (and pretty fabulous) cowboy boots, flowy, beachy dresses to mix and match with her bold southwestern-skewed jewelry, Pendleton blankets and multitudes more, colliding in a Yellowstone-meets-Santa Fe-meets the Hamptons unique style.
“It’s all about the mixing and matching,” says Jenny, “and being anything you want to be.”
Jenny’s Barn is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
