Far Hills is characterized by low-density, estate-style residential development. Homes sit on large, often landscaped lots, and the borough's zoning and history have preserved an open, country character rather than a conventional suburban street grid. The housing stock includes substantial single-family houses, many associated with the area's equestrian and country-estate tradition, along with a limited number of smaller, older homes. There is little multi-family construction, and new development is constrained by the borough's small geographic size. The overall market character is one of privacy, acreage, and established properties rather than volume turnover.

Far Hills is small enough that it functions as a single residential community rather than a collection of distinct neighborhoods. It sits within the broader Somerset Hills, bordered by Bernardsville, Bedminster, and Peapack-Gladstone, and shares the region's estate-and-equestrian character with those neighbors. The borough's built form is concentrated around its few roads, with homes set back on large lots and punctuated by open fields, the rail corridor, and the grounds of Moorland Farm. This cohesion, rather than any internal subdivision structure, defines the community's residential landscape.

Far Hills' lifestyle is shaped by its equestrian heritage and its place in the Somerset Hills. The annual Far Hills Race Meeting is the community's signature social event, drawing a large regional crowd each October, while riding, fox hunting, and horsekeeping remain woven into local life. The Leonard J. Buck Garden offers a quieter, contemplative counterpoint. Because the borough has little retail, daily activity flows to nearby Bernardsville and Bedminster, keeping Far Hills itself calm and residential. It is a community oriented toward open land, outdoor pursuits, and traditions that predate suburbanization.

Public school students in Far Hills attend the Somerset Hills Regional School District, a pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade district that also serves Bernardsville and Peapack-Gladstone; its schools include Bedwell Elementary, Bernardsville Middle School, and Bernards High School. The district is a significant draw for families in the area. In addition, the independent Far Hills Country Day School, located nearby on an expansive campus, serves students in the early and elementary grades and reinforces the region's strong private-school landscape.

Far Hills has its own NJ Transit rail station on the Gladstone Branch of the Morris & Essex Lines, offering commuter service toward Summit, Newark, and Hoboken with connections into New York City. The station sits near the intersection of Route 202 and County Route 512, about a half-mile east of Route 206, giving the borough convenient road access to the regional highway network. Interstate 287 and Interstate 78 are reached via surrounding roads, connecting Far Hills to the broader central New Jersey corridor and to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Recreation in Far Hills centers on the outdoors and the equestrian calendar. The Far Hills Race Meeting at Moorland Farm is both a sporting and a social institution, while the Leonard J. Buck Garden provides one of the East's premier rock gardens for walking and garden viewing. The surrounding Somerset Hills offer riding trails, preserves, and open countryside, and the borough's own quiet roads and estate landscapes invite walking and cycling. For residents, recreation is closely tied to the land itself, from horsekeeping to the stewardship of the borough's gardens and open space.