An Oasis Restored: The Southampton Arts Center Unveils the Paulson Family Gardens

When the Parrish Art Museum relocated to Water Mill in 2012, it left behind nearly a century of memories embedded in 2.7 acres on Jobs Lane. The Southampton Arts Center moved in the following year, inheriting grounds originally conceived by Grosvenor Atterbury for collector Samuel Parrish at the turn of the 20th century. Now, thanks to a $3.4 million gift from the Paulson Family Foundation, those same acres have been reimagined as the Paulson Family Gardens by landscape architect Christopher LaGuardia, of LaGuardia Design Group, now open to the public.

That a project of this ambition moved from approval to completion in just nine months speaks to the rare alignment of inspired leadership, community will, and extraordinary generosity. “We deeply appreciate Mayor Bill Manger for his leadership, and the Architectural Review Board for their partnership and invaluable guidance in elevating this cherished property,” said Simone Levinson, SAC Chairwoman. “I would also like to acknowledge my fellow board members, Siamak Samii, Paul Travis, and Rob Vahradian, as members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, for their dedication in stewarding this massive renovation through to completion in record time. We are all profoundly grateful to the Paulson Family for this lasting gift to our community, one that will be enjoyed for generations to come.”

What LaGuardia wrought is not reinvention but, rather, a restoration that honors the landscape’s historic bones while thoughtfully reimagining its possibilities. The existing trees, some of them venerable presences on Jobs Lane, have been carefully protected. New plantings expanded florals, additional trees, and layered greenery will enrich the composition without overwhelming it.

Accessibility, too, has been woven into the design from the outset, with pathways that welcome strollers, wheelchairs, and every visitor who arrives. A landscaped perimeter creates a contained and welcoming environment for children’s programming, while an open-air performance space offers SAC a new stage for its acclaimed outdoor events. For an institution that has long understood the arts as a form of civic life, the gardens become an extension of that belief, a place where a sculpture walk, a summer concert, or an afternoon simply spent in the company of beauty all feel equally at home.

Inside SAC’s galleries, The Story of America: 1776–2026, A Celebration of Freedom and Independence is on view through July 18. It’s a sweeping meditation on the American democratic experiment in honor of the nation’s semi-quincentennial. Drawing on the Wright Family Collection from the Museum of Democracy, the exhibition traces more than 250 years of presidential campaign history through objects of startling intimacy and resonance: the original flag flown at George Washington’s inauguration at Federal Hall, torches carried in the political parades of the 1850s, paper dresses worn at campaign rallies in the 1960s. Archival video, immersive storytelling, and interactive elements give voice to the full breadth of the American story from women’s suffrage, civil rights, and labor movements to the Vietnam War protests. 

While the address of Paulson Family Gardens has not changed, what awaits there, inside and out, has never looked quite like this.