Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist John Steinbeck’s Hamptons Home Listed For Nearly $18 Million

The former Sag Harbor home of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck is on the market.

“As soon as you arrive at this property, you know you have arrived somewhere special,” Sotheby’s International Realty’s Doreen Atkins, who is the listing agent, explained. “It feels like no other place in the Hamptons.”

A few years after the author finished his highly acclaimed East of Eden, he and his wife Elaine visited Sag Harbor where they discovered the quaint waterfront Sag Harbor cottage. Situated on just shy of two acres, the 1,220-square-foot cottage boasts a cozy main house with two bedrooms. The property encompasses nearly 600 feet of waterfront that overlooks Morris Cove and Upper Sag Harbor Cove – providing exceptional daily sunsets.

“I look forward to Sag Harbor – after seeing you, of course. And do you know, journalism, even my version of it, gives me the crazy desire to go out to my little house on the point, to sharpen fifty pencils, and put out a yellow pad,” Steinbeck penned about the area. “Early in the morning to hear what the birds are saying and to pass the time of day with Angel and then hitch up my chair to my writing board and to set down the words.”

The abode’s living room includes a stunning beamed cathedral ceiling and wainscoting. The Steinbecks established “The Library Loft” – where bookcases on three sides provide ample space to display a sizeable book collection. The property’s “Writing House,” a gazebo-like structure, offers an ideal spot to take in sunsets, or write the next Great American Novel. The property also features a pool or “cement pond’ – as Steinbeck referred to it – as well as a 60 foot dock.

“This home is filled with local and literary significance,” Atkins added.

Located mere minutes from Sag Harbor Village, the property is listed for $17.9 million.