Some holiday traditions live in a living room. This one lives in a barn on High Street in Huntington, the one that has stood beside the Conklin Farmhouse since 1990 and was already 160 years old when it got there. On Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22, Santa takes his chair inside it again, and for the 17th year running Len Marks Photography will be behind the camera, turning a few minutes on Santa's knee into the picture that goes on the fridge, the holiday card and, eventually, the wall.

The sessions benefit the Townwide Fund of Huntington, which means the photo you came for does a second job before you have even left the barn.

A barn with a better backstory than most

The Conklin property belongs to the Huntington Historical Society, and the farmhouse at its center was built around 1750. The Conklin family lived in it for more than a century and a half. It was here that Sybel Conklin kept the house and raised her children while her husband, David, was held prisoner by the British in 1777, and it holds the table and chair George Washington used on his 1790 tour of Long Island. Ella Conklin Hurd gave the house to the Society in 1911, making it one of the earliest museums on Long Island, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The barn has its own journey. The original Conklin barn had deteriorated past saving and came down years ago, so in 1990 the Society brought in a replacement: a barn built in 1830 on the Taylor farm in Laurel Hollow, moved to High Street to take its place. Today it is heated in winter, which matters more than you might think when your toddler's Santa outfit has short sleeves.

A smiling baby in a red Santa dress sitting on Santa's knee in front of a frosted window and a vintage radio
A visit with Santa at the Conklin Barn. Photo: Len Marks Photography.

Seventeen years of the same good idea

Len Marks is best known on Long Island for headshots: actors, executives and professionals file through his Huntington studio to get the one photograph that has to do a lot of work. That same discipline is what makes these Santa sessions different from a mall line. The set is an old-world holiday scene, all deep red velvet, a frosted window onto a snowy village street, a tree that actually glows and a wooden console radio that looks like it might be playing Bing Crosby. The lighting is a portrait photographer's lighting. The result looks like a portrait, because it is one.

Seventeen years in, a lot of local families have a shelf of these. It is one of the quieter pleasures of a long-running tradition: line up the prints and you can watch a baby on Santa's knee turn into the big kid standing beside the chair, holding the hand of the new baby on Santa's knee.

Yes, bring the dog

This is not a footnote. Dogs are welcome, and judging by last year's sessions, they are some of the most enthusiastic guests Santa sees all weekend. A matching outfit is optional but, as the black Lab in the red sweater at the top of this page makes clear, extremely effective. And Santa's lap holds more than you would think: two Cavaliers and a fluffy white puppy at once is a real thing that happened.

Santa holding three small dogs, two Cavalier King Charles spaniels and a white fluffy puppy, in front of a decorated tree
Santa's lap, at full capacity. Photo: Len Marks Photography.

Where the money goes

In 1961, a group of Huntington residents decided their neighbors in need should not have to depend on help arriving from somewhere else, and they started raising money locally to support local charities. That group became the Townwide Fund of Huntington. By its own count it has raised more than $15 million since, and today it partners with more than 30 health and human service organizations in the town, the agencies that help neighbors through hard stretches. It is run by volunteers, and as its own mission puts it, the goal is a community where everyone's vital needs are met.

Here is how the Santa sessions plug into that. Your session fee includes a donation to the Townwide Fund and one 4 x 6 printed photograph, delivered instantly. The session fee is $39. You walk out of the barn with a print in your hand, and a share of what you paid stays in Huntington doing real work. This is the second year Len Marks Photography and the Townwide Fund have partnered on the weekend.

Planning your visit

  • When: Saturday, November 21, 9 AM to 7 PM, and Sunday, November 22, 9 AM to 6 PM.
  • Where: The Conklin Barn, 2 High St., Huntington. Get directions.
  • Cost: a $39 session fee, which includes the donation to the Townwide Fund and one 4 x 6 print delivered while you wait.
  • Extras: more prints, digital files, ornaments, holiday cards and novelty items are available for purchase on site.
  • Who: kids, families, grandparents and dogs.
  • Booking: reserve your time at lenmarksphoto.com/special-events, where you register and pick a session.
  • Questions: call Len Marks Photography at 631-367-1219 or email [email protected].

A few tips: book early, since the weekend falls right before Thanksgiving and the most popular times go first; come with little ones fed and rested; and if you are bringing a dog, a quick walk before you arrive buys you a calmer lap. Then let Santa and the photographer do the rest.

Holiday photos are easy to take and hard to love. These are the other kind. Reserve your session, and put a farmhouse from about 1750, a barn from 1830 and a very patient Santa in this year's card.