When it comes to cooling off in style, bigger isn’t always better — even in the Hamptons. Cocktail pools — petite, stylish and perfect for taking a dip or lounging in with a drink in hand, hence the name — are perfect additions for small properties or those close to water, really anywhere space is at a premium. Part plunge pool, part water feature, more homeowners are discovering how they can create a background oasis, even if they are not constrained by space.
These smaller pools, often with depths of around 5 feet, are to wade in, rather than actively swim. They range vastly in size, typically anywhere from 10 to 16 feet long and 4 to 5 feet deep. In the Hamptons, where pools have traditionally been proportional to the McMansions they sit outside, they may trend a little larger comparatively, of course.
Tortorella Pools, synonymous with exceptional service and luxury pools in the Hamptons for 45 years, has noted an increasing trend for smaller pools, especially in the East Hampton, Sag Harbor or Southampton Villages, where it’s not unusual for properties to be a third or a quarter of an acre.
There is simply no room for average-sized pools, which run along the lines of 20 by 40 or 18 by 44 feet. Of course, on the ultra-high-end of the market, it’s not abnormal to see a 50 or 60-foot-long pool with an accompanying spa.
Cocktail pools are designed specifically for the space constraints. “Some of these properties are like two-tenths of an acre,” he says. In some villages, such as Southampton Village, where older homes are being knocked down or undergoing massive renovations, codes have also doubled setbacks to 20 feet.
“When we go on a job like that, with very tight restrictions — setbacks and so on — it becomes a little bit of a challenge,” says Michael Abdo, the construction draftsmen and estimating manager, “It’s imperative that when we go into design phase, we make sure that whatever we design, it’ll be in harmony with the house.”
Tortorella has worked on pools upwards of 100 feet, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, creativity becomes even more key.
“You just don’t want to pop one of these small pools in,” he says, noting it should make sense for the property from size to elevation.
On one project in East Hampton, the shape of the property presented some complexities. “It was not rectangular,” he recalls, so the pool, even though it was small, would still be visible when driving up the driveway.
“We created a water feature,” using a negative edge for the water to flow down from, “So when guests came, you have this 4-foot waterfall and then you walk right by it and you go up to the front steps. By doing that, because we left it 4 feet high, it becomes part of the fence, so you don’t have to put a fence in front.”
“In Sag Harbor Village in particular, you generally have small lots and the ability to have a pool regardless of size is highly prized,” says Jackie Lowey of Saunders & Associates. “It’s a premium to be able to do it.”
One of her listings, at 66 Franklin Avenue in Sag Harbor, is a just-renovated 2,700-square-foot home with a grandfathered additional structure, now a pool house, that sits on just 0.16 of an acre. When the home was originally converted from a bungalow in 2017, a heated gunite pool, 10-by-17 feet to suit the parcel, was added.
Just having a pool is enough for those choosing to live on a smaller parcel. “We live in a community with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I think for a lot of people, the most important thing about a pool is having one,” she says, noting her listing is close to Haven’s Beach.
“It’s what many call a ‘Sag Harbor pool.’ It’s big enough to cool off and enjoy, and I think that’s what people are looking for there,” she says of the $4.295 million listing. “You have very few lots that can accommodate big pools. People are seeking that vibrant Sag Harbor Village lifestyle,” where they can walk to the shops, stores and Bay Street Theater. “If they wanted an Olympic-sized pool on 1.6 acres, they would be in the Northwest Woods. It’s a lifestyle choice.”
Tim Graf, the general manager at Pool Details, a division of Landscape Details, an East Hampton-based firm, says that because they tend to be larger than what he thinks of as a cocktail pool, he refers to them as “boutique party pools.”
Graf says he works with clients to determine the best-sized pool for their property. “It’s like selling an engagement ring. Everyone says, ‘Oh, I want the biggest ring,’ but that may not look the best on your hand. Let’s go with something that looks great, looks brilliant,” he says. “I try to do the same with pools.”
He cautions people from going oversized. “You could fill your whole backyard with the pool, but then what about the kids? What about soccer? What about the dog? Let’s make a boutique-sized pool that’s fully functional…. It’s classy, elegant, but let’s also maintain a lot of the integrity of the yard for the family as well.”
Smaller does not mean sacrificing coveted design features like sparkling interiors, stone surrounds, waterfalls, built-in benches or sun shelves for lounging. They also can have any of the bells and whistles one might expect on a bigger pool — LED lighting that can change colors, heaters that can be turned on via an app so they are ready for your arrival out east, specialized filtration systems and self-docking vacuum systems.
One recent project that Pool Details completed in East Hampton, which measured 17-by-32 feet, boasts a perimeter overflow, without skimmers, and it looks as though the water is floating on the land.
“It has the perfect sun shelf. It’s a phenomenal one-of-a-kind finish, a darker finish, which is another thing people are trending more towards right now. It gives it a more elegant, polished look. At night, the water almost looks black.” Plus, it has underwater speakers so the owner can listen to music as he floats around.
Mitchell Delgado, the owner of Marco Polo Pool & Spa in Speonk, says he has seen the trend for smaller pools grow on both sides of the Shinnecock Canal over the past few years.
He considers these types of pools any length that are without a deep end so that “people can hang out in the entire service area of the pool in stomach-high water.” They usually include splash pads, stadium steps and benches on the opposite end of the pool, giving plenty of choice of where to relax.
Many are gunite, but he noticed some are gravitating toward vinyl interiors thanks to platinum onyx, one of the newer liners that his distributor LOOP-LOC, a luxury pool liner company, provides, which offers “a beautiful shimmer.” A recent cocktail pool in East Quogue, completed this spring, utilized it.
Homeowner Mary DeGirolamo chose to go with dimensions of 16 by 28 feet for her new pool, including a 6-foot sunshelf, with features like deck jets that shoot into the pool for a peaceful splash. “It’s convenient, it’s easy to clean. I can stand — I am a short little lady,” she says, noting a depth range from 3.5 to 5 feet. “I don’t have children, I don’t have grandchildren, I just wanted something I could go in and cool off — something simple. A bigger pool would have been more work.”
Nothing Smaller About the Price
Whether it would have cost her more to put in a bigger pool is somewhat subjective. There are so many options it’s hard to give a range, but let’s just say no one we spoke to mentioned prices under $65,000 — more like averages between $125,000 and $175,000.
This may come as a surprise, or not, since this is the Hamptons, after all, but these pint-sized pools don’t necessarily mean smaller price tags or bills. Each of the pool contractors Behind The Hedges spoke to say it’s still the same materials and, even more so, the same mechanicals, so the cost adds up.
“You might be saving a couple of grand on length,” Delgado says. “That’s it.”
“It’s because of the finishes,” Graf explains. One client he recently sat down with to spec out a pool wants a sun shelf, stadium stairs and a spa combo with a separate spa heater so they can leave it on during the winter when the pool is closed. “These extra finishes add up because we’re creating more of a smart pool now… they’re fully loaded.”
Abdo agrees, noting there are often minimum costs for applying finishes. “The setup costs are the same whether it’s for a 20-by-40 pool or an 8-by-10 pool.”
Finding the Right Buyer
What everyone agrees on is that adding a pool always raises property value, no matter the size and location. But is it harder to sell a Hamptons house with a cocktail pool in the back as opposed to an average-sized pool? Maybe. Real estate agents acknowledge that these types of pools are not for every buyer, but then again, that can be said of almost any feature in a home.
Earlier this summer, a house at 17 Old Sag Harbor Road, located between the villages of East Hampton and Sag Harbor, with a 20-by-24-foot pool, found a buyer after two months on the market. Jackie Dunphy, who shares the listing with fellow Corcoran agent Greg Schmidt, said the response to the pool size was “a mixed bag” before it went under contract with a last ask of $2,375,000.
The traditional 2,422-square-foot home was built in 2020 on a parcel of a little more than a half-acre. There is room for a bigger pool, Dunphy says, but the owners chose a heated vinyl pool they could lounge in, set back in the lushly landscaped backyard with plenty of space for entertaining.
For some, “there is a stigma, which is so silly, because most people do not use their pools to do actual physical swimming. No one goes in the deep end. No one dives anymore. A 5-foot deep pool is more than adequate,” Dunphy says.
“The current person who is buying it loved the idea because she is a huge ocean/bay person. She doesn’t use the pool much. She loves the idea of sitting in the pool and not worrying about the deep end and lounging with friends at cocktail hour,” Dunphy says.
Many buyers tend to have “outdated visions of what a pool should be,” Dunphy says. Overall, people are “slowly coming around to seeing a pool as an outdoor space for entertaining instead of a physical activity.”
Seth Madore of Corcoran agrees, seeing a similar response at his listing on Shelter Island, where a 15-by-30-foot pool was built for a newly completed spec house on West Neck Bay. “It’s really 50/50. Half like it, half wish it was bigger,” he says. “Some people want lap pools and some people don’t. It’s hard to gauge.”
On this particular project at 8 Hilo Drive, the saltwater gunite pool was built to take advantage of the vista without the red tape it would have taken for approvals for a bigger size due to setback requirements. “It’s elevated with the first floor of the house — part in the ground, part up to have the best view of the water,” says listing agent Seth Madore of Corcoran.
Angled 45 degrees and flush with the expansive deck without a railing at the front to obscure the bay view, the pool is only 6 feet at its deepest. One can stand in the pool, lean on the ledge, cool off and watch the boats go by.
“It’s not a huge pool, it’s not a tiny pool,” he adds, noting the purpose was “to strike a balance between size of the pool and size of the deck for entertaining” at the house, asking $3.95 million.
“I find the demographic that puts in a cocktail pool tends to be older couples without kids. It’s a lifestyle choice,” Madore says. However, he also sees the benefits of a pool without much depth as a safety factor for families with small children.
“They’re easier to manage,” he says, adding that the 3,985-square-foot house at 8 Hilo Drive has a modern open floor plan with easy sightlines to the pool from the kitchen.
However, he believes that ultimately, smaller pools are a symptom of zoning laws and setback restrictions. “People desire larger pools, but often they get what they can get.”
An example of a new build on the market with a smaller-sized pool is a Corcoran listing along the Atlantic in Westhampton Beach, where, despite an $8.85 million price tag, the oceanside pool is a mere 224 square feet. The newly completed, 4,000-square-foot home at 451 Dune Road capitalizes on its 90 feet of ocean frontage. An expansive 1,125-square-foot deck is home to a 16-by-14-foot pool. With the vast ocean just steps away down a private beach access, what else could one need but a refreshing dip?
A soon-to-be-finished contemporary abode in Bridgehampton, from Grand Cupola Builders and Hunt Architecture, will feature a thoughtfully designed 17-by-30-foot heated saltwater pool.
“They wanted a complete look that blended with the home, not a standalone pool,” says Ed Gaetjens of Saunders & Associates, who has an exclusive on the $6,995,000 listing with Laura White, also of Saunders. “The size of the pool was dictated by the architect and homeowner to be a statement.”
Sited at the end of a long driveway on a lot just shy of an acre, the house blends the aesthetic of a chic Hamptons potato barn with a modern open-concept layout. The gunite pool will be titled with neutral colors, lit with LEDs and complemented by a spa.
“Pools are unique to each property. Bigger is not necessarily better,” Gaetjens says. “We live on an island surrounded by water. Most swimming enthusiasts can head to the bay or the ocean for a distance swim.”
Cocktail pools may not be for everyone, but they certainly reflect a broader shift in how Hamptons homeowners view their outdoor spaces. No longer just about size or status, pools are becoming an extension of lifestyle — places to relax and unwind. Whether tucked into a village backyard or set against sweeping water views, these smaller pools prove that when it comes to luxury, sometimes less truly is more, especially when it comes to a splash.
