History and Transformation of a Boarding House in East Hampton

Esperanza and Irwin discuss the multiple lives of the Sea Spray Inn.  The Sea Spray's early days in the 19th century on Main Street, East Hampton led to its subsequent move in 1902 to the dunes near Main Beach, as the private home of E.D. Terbell.   The Sea Spray's heyday was from the 1940's to 1970's.  The Sea Spray had a capacity of 125 guests served by a staff of 55.  Rooms went from spare to breathtaking, with rates from $15 to $100 a day by the 1960's, three square meals a day included!  A fire on a February evening in 1978 destroyed the Sea Spray, but the cottages remain.  The East Hampton Village Board purchased them in 1978 for 3 million dollars, and manages them as rentals to this day.