Sally Spanburgh lives in Southampton Village and is actively engaged in local historic preservation. She is chairperson of Southampton's Landmarks and Historic Districts Board. Previously, she was employed with architectural firms in New York City and Southampton. She has a master's in architecture from Syracuse University, studied preservation at Columbia Universty, and has a bachelor's of science in environmental design from Syracuse. Her first book, The Southampton Cottages of Gin Lane, was published in 2012.