Huge elms and maples surround the Huntting Inn, a pre-Revolutionary land-mark set on 2½ acres in the midst of East Hampton Village. The 1699 house, originally a saltbox, was built by the Church of England for the Reverend Nathaniel Huntting. In 1751 Huntting’s widow, probably short of cash, turned her home into a public house, and it’s been an inn ever since. During the American Revolution it became the only neutral meet-ing ground in the area.
Innkeeper Linda Calder (who also man-ages Hedges’ Inn, owned by the same corporation) has been here since 1980. Her warmth, boundless energy, and good humor are evident as she tends to the needs of guests in the two inns.
The inn’s dining room will look familiar to Manhattan’s restaurant coguoscenti— it’s run by the Palm Restaurant and has similar decor, including a pressed-tin ceiling, oak wainscoting, wide-board floors, bentwood chairs, a brass-rail bar, and drawings of celebrities lining the walls. As at the Palm, steaks and lob-sters come in colossal portions.
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