The Springs Library is located at the Ambrose Parsons House, which is named for its first owner. The house dates to the 1700s, but was rebuilt in 1851 after several fires. Elizabeth Parker Anderson, the last owner, wanted it to be used as a library for residents of Springs, and left it to East Hampton Town when she died in 1975.
Five years later, the town agreed to let the Springs Historical Society establish a library there. It charges an annual $15 fee and has an ongoing book sale to help cover the cost of insurance and buy new books. The staff is made up of volunteers, and while they haven't kept count of the size of the collection, the library has a vast collection of fiction and non-fiction, and movies. It is not part of the Suffolk County Library system.
The house is listed on the New York State and the National Registers of Historic places in 1995.
Home Sweet Home is a museum named after the famous song of the same name. The song's historic salt-box is located on the East Hampton Village green, which was founded in the 1720s and still retains the charm that once was colonial East Hampton. The Pantigo Mill, which dates to 1804, is located just beyond the museum.
John Howard Payne, an early American playwright and actor, wrote the song, "Home, Sweet Home," in the 19th century, and many have attributed his inspiration for the song to the salt-box. Payne's mother was from East Hampton and his father once taught at the Clinton Academy, which is another historic site just down the block. Payne visited East Hampton as a child.
The Buek family owned the house from 1907 to 1927 before the village purchased it and opened it as a museum in 1928. They had furnished the house with antique period and colonial revival pieces, as well as memorabilia in honor of Payne. The words "Home Sweet Home" are etched on the door- knocker. A bust of Payne is in the museum's entrance.
The front part of the house is set up as if the Bueks were living there in the 1920s. Antiques, china, and lustreware fill the rooms. The gardens -- a parlor window fragrance garden, a 19th-century pleasure garden and an 18th-century herb garden -- contain species, like antique roses, found during that time period.
Hugh King, the village's historic site manager, gives a passionate tour of the museum, and is a wealth of knowledge about East Hampton. Postcards and small souvenirs are available for purchase.
The Montauk Observatory is a planetarium and nonprofit organization offering free year-round educational programs, including astronomy lectures and professional planetarium shows. The site has a state-of-the-art professional-grade telescope and offers a wide range of events and programs for residents to enjoy and learn about science. Programs offer amateur and professional astronomers alike the chance to view the skies; check the main Web site for a schedule of events or to make a donation. Membership in Montauk Observatory is completely free—just fill out the online application.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Mulford Farm is considered one of the country's most significant intact English Colonial farmsteads. Named for the family that owned it for most of its existence, the saltbox house was built in 1680 and hasn't been changed much since 1750.
The farm is set up as if it were about 1790. There is a smokehouse and Rachel's Garden, named for Rachel Mulford, who lived there.
The Mulford Barn, also on the property, was built in 1721 and has remained mostly intact. In 1990, the State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation deemed it the second most important 18th-century barn in the state.
Guild Hall is a center for the arts, entertainment and education. It has presented visual and performing arts programs for the past 76 years; 40,000 visitors entered its doors in 2009. Guild Hall does have a permanent collection and nearly 1,900 works of art from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, including paintings, sculptures, prints, watercolors, photographs and drawings by such notables as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, William deKooning and Roy Lichtenstein. The museum displays many local artists. Also on the premises is The John Drew Theater, named for area resident and great great grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore. The striking 360-seat auditorium has a balcony, removable orchestra seating and blue and white striped tent-like ceiling that sweeps up to a chandelier of the glass balloons. Since 1931, it has hosted plays, musicals and lectures with the likes of Mercedes Ruehl, Alec Baldwin, Regina Carter and Michael Feinstein taking the stage.
Thomas Moran Trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the East Hampton studio of artist Thomas Moran and the cultural heritage of the area. The organization hosts exhibitions, receptions and dinner events.
The Leiber Collection is an art gallery open to the public. It houses the works of Gerson and Judith Leiber, as well as work by many other artists. The gallery is set amidst seven acres of gardens designed by Gerson Leiber. Judith Leiber is a Holocaust survivor and known for her artful handbag designs, which have been worn by many celebrities and nearly every first lady from 1953 to the present. The gallery is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day on Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm - 4pm and year round by appointment.
The Osborn-Jackson House is a period house museum named for its first and last owners. The oldest portion of the colonial house was built around 1723, and six generations of Osborns lived here until the late 1960s. The furnishings date from about 1780 to 1820.
East Hampton Village has owned and maintained the property since Lionel Jackson donated it in 1977. The East Hampton Historical Society, which oversees five museums, has its headquarters at the Osborn-Jackson House.
Built in 1784, Clinton Academy was one of the first academies chartered by the Board of Regents in New York State. Reverend Samuel Buell of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church asked locals to donate money to construct the late-Georgian building. Co-educational, boys were schooled for careers, while girls were given classes in etiquette and spiritual reading. It was later a community center and a playhouse, held the town offices and even the local newspaper.
The East Hampton Historical Society oversees the historic site, which now hosts exhibitions and lectures. The Mimi Meehan Native Plant Garden, between the Clinton Academy and its neighbor, The East Hampton Star, is open year-round. The Garden Club of East Hampton tends to the small garden.
The former home and studio of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, two of the foremost Abstract Expressionist painters, is open to the public between May 1 and Aug. 31. The Study Center is also available by appointment year round. You can take a guided tour of the house and studio where Pollock and Krasner had their creative visions. The property is recognized as a national historic landmark.
In the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton is a true hidden gem. LongHouse Reserve is about 16 acres of gardens and art works. Founded by Jack Lenor Larsen, a renowned textile designer, art collector and author. The gardens surround Mr. Larsen's house which double as his private residence and the reserve's offices. Sculptures, plant collections, ornamental borders and decorations make for a magical tour. There is also an educational focus and programs. It never quite looks the same as the last time you were there.