Springs Neighborhood Guide

Perched on a wooded peninsula north of Amagansett, Springs is a Hamptons neighborhood bounded by the picturesque Three Mile Harbor and Gardiners Bay. It is known as the most serene Hampton, and is home to one of the Hamptons’ largest year-round communities, with its abundant parks, nature preserves, and beaches drawing visitors to their pristine landscapes all year round. Its 9.2 square miles are dotted with shingled cottages and farmhouses, many with stunning views of the bay.  

For decades, Springs was considered the Hampton’s best-kept secret, a wooded enclave home to artists and generations of fishermen. In recent years, an influx of buyers looking for tranquility, untouched nature, and fewer tourists have moved to this Hamptons neighborhood. A new crop of artistic luminaries, including Cindy Sherman and Annabelle Selldorf, have also moved in, maintaining Springs’ legacy as a haven for artists. Museums like the Jackson Pollock and Judith Lieber houses, as well as Duck Creek Arts Center, keep Springs’ thriving artistic community alive and accessible to residents.

Springs Real Estate Stats

An Abbreviated History of Springs

Springs was originally inhabited by The Montaukett people, who also lived in what is today Sag Harbor, East Hampton, and Montauk. Today’s Squaw Road in Springs draws its name from Squaw Cove, an indigenous village site in the area. English settlers arrived in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries and established fishing and farming communities. Many of their descendants still live in the area today, and work in the clamming and oystering industries or in the surrounding Hamptons, and are referred to as “Bonackers,” a name that comes from the nearby Accabonac Harbor. Bonac cuisine is known for its fresh oyster and clams-based dishes. The neighborhood was isolated from the rest of the Hamptons until the late twentieth century, without a train or bus station. 

In the middle of the twentieth century, Jackson Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner moved to Springs, spurring the creation of an enclave of abstract expressionists, writers, and other artists in the area. Artists like Willem de Kooning and John Ferren and writers including Nora Ephron, John Steinbeck, Philip Roth, and Kurt Vonnegut lived and worked in Springs. In the past few years, new luxury hotels like EHP Resort and Marina and high-end restaurants like Rita Cantina have added a glamour factor to the otherwise quaint and quiet vibe, making Springs a desirable Hamptons neighborhood destination. 

What to expect

Springs Landmarks and Cultural Institutions

A NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR

Maidstone Beach is a serene and scenic section of the Gardiners Bay waterfront. The calm, shallow water is perfect for swimming and snorkeling, and the 400-foot stretch of sand abuts beautiful beach grasses and the adjacent Maidstone Park. The park area includes a baseball diamond, grills and picnic areas, and a playground. This beach is a local favorite, often considered a neighborhood secret because of its semi-hidden location beyond the Springs woods. 

This quaint, shingled home on a quarter acre of grass was once the home of Jackson Pollock, a pioneer of the Abstract Expressionism art movement, and his wife and fellow modern artist Lee Krasner. Situated just overlooking Accabonac Harbor, the house was both home and studio for the artists. The home has since been converted into the Pollock-Krasner House Museum, an institution devoted to Pollock and Krasner’s artistic legacies, as well as those of their friends and fellow artists, many of whom spent time vacationing and creating in Springs. 

Caroline Gerard Park rests on a narrow peninsula nestled between Accabonac Harbor and Napeague Bay. Beyond beautiful bay and harbor views, the park also offers views into the Kaplan Meadows and Merrill Lake nature sanctuaries, where migratory bird species are often spotted. The entire peninsula is walkable and offers some of the Hamptons’ most spectacular views of untouched nature. 

The Leiber Collection is an art gallery and sculpture garden founded by the artists Judith and Gerson Lieber to chronicle their careers. Judith Lieber’s handbags have been worn by first ladies and exhibited in museums like the Smithsonian and Corcoran, while Gerson Leiber’s paintings can be seen in the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, and The Boston Museum of Fine Art. Housed in a magnificent Renaissance-style mansion, the museum is filled with beautiful oil paintings and objets d’art. The property also includes a sculpture garden rife with modernist masterpieces. The museum has been called the Hamptons’ best-kept artistic secret.

Albert’s Landing is another local favorite bay beach, facing onto Gardiners Bay. Its calm waters are perfect for swimming, sailing, and boating. This pristine sandy beach sits next to Fresh Pond and its associated park, so beachgoers often take a scenic nature walk after swimming, or picnic at the park’s outdoor pavilions.

Three Mile Harbor, Gardiner’s, and Halsey’s Marinas are three neighboring marinas on a three-mile harbor. All three marinas are local favorite spots to watch the sunset over the harbor and gaze out at a variety of sailboats and yachts. You can take in all three harbors in a walk along Three Mile Harbor Hog Creek Road, or stop at any of the many marina restaurants to take in the view with a drink or a meal. Locals congregate at the marinas all summer, especially on July 4th to view the fireworks. 

This cemetery was constructed as a burial ground for the largely working-class population that originally inhabited Springs, and often worked in the oceanfront mansions of the Hamptons. Generations of Springs families are buried here. After Jackson Pollock was buried in the cemetery in 1956, it became an artist and writer’s cemetery as well, serving as the final resting place for renowned artists like Elaine de Kooning, Jimmy Ernst, and poets like Frank O’Hara and Hilda Morley. Today, many of its headstones are also sculptural artworks. 

This beach is on its own little island and only accessible via Louse Point Road. From one side of the island, beachgoers can see the neighboring Edwin Island Wildlife Sanctuary’s diverse flora. After a brief walk to the other side, beachgoers can marvel at the unobstructed view of Gardiners Bay. You will likely see sailboats and rowboats on this beach, which is also great for paddleboarding, kayaking, and canoeing. 

The Duck Creek Arts Center is a community-oriented fine arts center just off Three Mile Harbor. It is housed in a historic farmstead, which was originally built in the 18th century and inhabited by a family that was part of the first wave of settlers in East Hampton. In the 1950s, the historic estate was transformed into a studio and artists’ colony by John Little, an abstract expressionist. In the early 2000s, a group of local Springs residents with a vision for a free, local arts center purchased the property and transformed it into a nonprofit that runs educational arts programming.