The Big House at Malabar Farm was once the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and dedicated conservationist Louis Bromfield. It became a place of learning and a country retreat for Hollywood celebrities such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who were married inside the Big House between the double staircase in 1945. After the release of Bromfield's widely successful book, Pleasant Valley, many people considered Malabar Farm to be an almost magical place. In the book, Bromfield wrote, "Perhaps one day it will belong to the state together with the hills, valleys, and woods of Malabar Farm."