Some people have a knack for the written word. Enter Jamie Baker.

Decades ago, Baker was a playwright working in theater. New York beckoned, but instead, he opted for Los Angeles, followed by Seattle and Pasadena. He earned some awards for his craft, he said, but still resisted the call of the Big Apple.

Basically, “I wanted to be happy, so I did something else” — other than writing and selling plays, that is.

He and his wife, Devra Robin, adopted a daughter, now 23, and then two more children, now 18 and 16, Baker said.

Still in Southern California, he segued from writing to working in development for foster care programs and eventually, as director of a large Los Angeles organization devoted to fostering and mental health care for children.

Baker, now 61, recalled visiting Solvang and the Central Coast while a student at PCPA in 1979, and about 12 years ago, he and Devra relocated their family here, settling in Solvang.

In 2018, the couple opened Space VR, an arcade for the young — and young at heart.

“Space VR is the only immersive 360 arcade on the Central Coast,” according to https://www.spacevrsolvang.com/.

With state-of-the-art HTC Business Pro, Oculus Quest and Class VR technology, friends and families can immerse themselves in many experiences, among them walking on the ocean floor, cavorting with elephants and giraffes in Africa, or challenging aliens.

Baker said a similar arcade in London triggered his idea for Space VR. “I started this for my kids — to give them something to do.”

While his older two have “outgrown” the business, his youngest child “still likes it here.”

Baker is pleased with Space VR’s location (320 Alisal Rd., Suite 104): “The demographics here are quiet.”

While officials in Lompoc, Santa Maria and Santa Barbara (in particular, for State Street) have offered expansion, he prefers the vibe in Solvang.

Space VR outlasted the pandemic shutdown “with a strict mask and vaccine requirement,” and today remains healthy.

“We have a cult following,” Baker laughed. “My wife and I say while ‘we may run out of zombie content,’ we won’t run out of third graders!”

When we spoke in May, 16 students on a field trip from their Santa Barbara school were scheduled for the following week, he said. “This place is birthday central for younger kids and teens.”

Back to the pandemic shutdown: Baker wrote a playful novel called “You Ate It.” He stayed on a schedule of 2,000 words each day, or 10,000 per week. After he finished nine drafts, “the characters kept talking to me so I started a second book,” which encompassed six drafts.

A third book remains in the works, Baker added.

“During COVID, I had no excuse not to write, and I fell back in love with my passion,” he said.

The characters he crafted in “You Ate It” became his friends, and by books two and three, he hesitated to “eliminate” them, and will heed Devra’s suggestion of “a more hopeful ending.”

Local readers, Baker noted, may recognize some of the personalities in the books.

In 2020, mid-pandemic, he ran for a seat on the Solvang City Council, but lost. Post pandemic, and in the wake of at least two of the books, Baker faced treatment for cancer, followed by a subsequent surgery in late May.

During June, as he recovered, he remained focused on a new project launching later this summer: An art house theater.

In a 35- by 35-square-foot space that shares a wall with Space VR, Baker and his family have designed a 50-seat theater. Still to come when I viewed the space in May were risers for the seats and black-out paint for the ceiling.

Baker doesn’t expect the cozy theater will turn a profit, but he’s counting on a space “to hang out with people who are interesting and creative.” He’s reached out to his theater and film contacts — among them Linda Hunt of “The Year of Living Dangerously” — to propose a showing that could include that film and, for example, Indonesian food as a pairing, followed by a question-and-answer session with Hunt via Zoom.

The idea, he noted, is to “pull food from the film” in question rather like a “book club” theater with passengers journeying to Paris while eating French food and watching an independent French film.

“A theater for readers” is how Baker envisions this new space. His goal: four films per week, including “something for kids.” He foresees offering a membership with an annual fee, and lower priced seats.

“This is my hobby,” he said.

Space VR Solvang requires reservations. More information: 805.325.9769.