The Hamptons: Difference between revisions

For other uses, see The Hamptons (disambiguation).

The Hamptons, highlighted (center) on South Fork of Long Island, an island 118 miles (190 km) long.

The Hamptons are a group of villages and hamlets in the townships of Southampton and East Hampton, which form the South Fork of Long Island, New York. The Hamptons form a popular seaside resort, one of the historical summer colonies of the American Northeast. They have some of the most expensive residential properties in the U.S.

The Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, the Montauk Highway, and the Hampton Jitney connect the Hamptons to the rest of Long Island and to New York City, while ferries provide connections to Shelter Island, New York and Connecticut.

West to East

The Hamptons include hamlets and villages in the town of Southampton:

• Westhampton Beach (village)
• West Hampton Dunes (village)
• Westhampton (hamlet)
• Quogue (village)
• East Quogue (hamlet)
• Riverside (hamlet)
• Flanders (hamlet)
• Hampton Bays (hamlet)
• Shinnecock Hills (hamlet)
• North Sea
• Southampton (village)
• Water Mill
• Bridgehampton
• Sagaponack (village)
• Sag Harbor (village, shared with East Hampton)

The Hamptons include the following hamlets and villages in the town of East Hampton:

• Sag Harbor (village, shared with Southampton)
• Wainscott
• East Hampton (village)
• Northwest Harbor
• Springs
• Amagansett
• Montauk

The hamlet Northampton, farther west in the Town of Southampton, is not generally included.

The Shinnecock Reservation of the Shinnecock Indian Nation lies within the borders of the Town of Southampton, adjoining Shinnecock Hills and the Village of Southampton.

Summer Colony

These areas constitute the core vacation area of this end of Long Island.

Village/Hamlet	Town	Population	Total Area	Land Area
Southampton	Southampton Town	3,965	6.8 sq mi (18 km2)	6.3 sq mi (16 km2)
Water Mill	Southampton Town	1,724	12.5 sq mi (32 km2)	11.0 sq mi (28 km2)
Bridgehampton	Southampton Town	1,381	11.2 sq mi (29 km2)	9.3 sq mi (24 km2)
Sagaponack	Southampton Town	582	8.0 sq mi (21 km2)	6.2 sq mi (16 km2)
Sag Harbor	60% Southampton; 40% East Hampton Town	2,313	2.5 sq mi (6.5 km2)	1.7 sq mi (4.4 km2)
Wainscott	East Hampton Town	628	7.3 sq mi (19 km2)	6.2 sq mi (16 km2)
East Hampton	East Hampton Town	1,334	4.9 sq mi (13 km2)	4.8 sq mi (12 km2)
Amagansett	East Hampton Town	1,067	8.0 sq mi (21 km2)	6.2 sq mi (16 km2)

The Summer Colony's residents include many of New York City's affluent residents, as well as a number of affluent people from other nearby states, executives, and increasingly, foreigners from Europe and South America.

Villages and the hamlets of the Summer Colony are distinguished by their significant population increases during the summers, a large number of retail shops and restaurants and extensive arts community. Residential real estate prices in the Hamptons rank among the highest in the nation, and, as of 2013, the real estate market was hot with prices rising for both home buyers and sellers and rentals. Particularly attractive were modest homes within walking distance of village centers. In particular, Sagaponack, Water Mill and Bridgehampton were cited by Business Week magazine as being the 1st, 6th and 8th most expensive zip codes in the nation, respectively.

Other amenities in the area include Sebonack Golf Club, the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, National Golf Links of America in Southampton and the Maidstone Club in East Hampton. The Shinnecock and National golf clubs were recently voted as the #3 and #10 ranked courses in America by Golf Digest magazine. Exclusive private clubs provide additional recreational resources to the very affluent in the area. These clubs include The Bathing Corporation of Southampton, the Southampton Bath and Tennis Club, and the Meadow Club in Southampton Village and the Maidstone Club in East Hampton.

In popular culture

The Hamptons and Hamptons society are frequently featured on-screen and mentioned in films and television.

In films

• Grey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, with Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in the wealthy Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York.
• Rachel, Darcy, Dex, Ethan, Marcus and Claire take a couple of weekend trips to the Hamptons in Something Borrowed (2011)
• The Hamptons are depicted and mentioned as the home of Declan and Fiona's aunt Kate in Degrassi Takes Manhattan (2010).
• In Inside Job, a 2010 documentary film about the financial crisis of 2007–2010 directed by Charles H. Ferguson, The Hamptons is shown as hub for Wall Street traders and investment bankers. The film covers a bird's eye view of the beaches and homes in the area.
• The Hamptons location and white upper-class society feature prominently and are parodied in White Chicks (2004).
• The Hamptons are used as a backdrop for Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give (2003), starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson.

In television

• In an episode of the adult cartoon Family Guy titled "The Story on Page One" Character Mayor Adam West talks to the toilet and says "Well, well, Mr. Toilet. I thought you were in The Hamptons."
• In an episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld, titled "The Wizard", George Costanza misleadingly claims to be "closing on his house in The Hamptons". In "The Hamptons", the characters travel to the Hamptons to see a friend's newborn baby.
• The TV show Castle also makes several references to The Hamptons as a favorite vacation spot for the famous character Rick Castle. Castle's Hamptons house is featured in the 4th episode of Season 5.
• The TV series Royal Pains is set in the Hamptons, where the main character Doctor Henry "Hank" Lawson becomes a concierge doctor in The Hamptons and starts his own concierge doctor business with his younger brother Evan R. Lawson.
• In Josh Schwartz's Gossip Girl, The Hamptons are mentioned on numerous occasions in the first two episodes of season two and episodes in season five and six. Many of the characters in the show reside or vacation in The Hamptons during the summer.
• Derek Shepherd and Addison Montgomery of the medical drama, Grey's Anatomy, are known to have once owned property in The Hamptons.
• The MTV documentary series True Life had an episode called "True Life: I'm Hustling in The Hamptons".
• Numerous episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City are filmed in and around The Hamptons, where the cast members participate in the East End social life and charitable events and several cast members own (or previously owned) eastern Long Island homes, e.g., Cindy Barshop, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, LuAnn de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, and Jill Zarin. (Exemplary episodes include 1.3 "The Hamptons"; 2.2 "Hamptons Retreat, No Surrender"; 2.3 "On Their High Horses"; and 4.4 "Ramona'd".)
• Sex and the City: season 2, episode 17, "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women"
• Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23: season 2, episode 7, "A Weekend in the Hamptons..."
• Revenge: An ABC TV series which takes place in the Hamptons, where Emily Thorne (AKA Amanda Clarke) navigates upper society to destroy the wealthy Graysons and those who betrayed her father. Montauk is home of Jack Porter's "Stowaway" Tavern.
• The Pruitts of Southampton was an early 60's sitcom starring Phyliss Diller.
• Ina Garten, Emmy Award winning host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, lives in East Hampton and films many of the episodes for Barefoot Contessa in "The Barn" adjacent to her home.

External links

• "Real Estate 101 in the Hamptons", The New York Times.
• "Studios by the Sea", Vanity Fair, August 2000.
• "The Most Expensive Golf Courses in the Country", Forbes magazine.
• “Ruffling A Few Feathers In One Of America’s Most Exclusive Retreats, The Hamptons” Tayfun King, Fast Track, BBC World News (2008-08-01)