Monday, April 9, 2007

Billy Joel Price Chops Long Island Estate

SELLER: Billy and Katie Lee Joel
LOCATION: Centre Island Road, Oyster Bay, NY
PRICE: $32,500,000
SIZE: 14.6 acres, 14,273 square feet
DESCRIPTION: Magnificent waterfront Estate with 1550 foot waterfront and panoramic 180 degree views. One of a kind!! 14,000 square foot main house plus three bedroom, two and half bathrooms, guest cottage and three bedroom, three bath beach house. Indoor and outdoor pools, tennis court, bowling alley. Incredible amenities and architectural features throughout. Stunning!

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: This property has been written about ad infinitum since 2002 when the Grammy winning Piano Man with a bad habit of driving drunk purchased the property for $22,500,000 according to property records. And the house has again garnered a lot of attention from real estate gossips since it hit the market again late last year. But since this house is so screamingly over the top and upsettingly expensive, Your Mama figured we'd add the monster mansion to our archives.

Since purchasing the house and marrying his much younger third wifey Katie Lee on the property, Joel has made many alterations, improvements and renovations to the property including filling in the indoor pool to create a music room with perfect acoustics for tinkling the ivories and crying out his sad songs.

Although the house looks like it was built in the golden age of robber barons and publishing tycoons, the 14,000 square foot house was actually built at great expense in 1994. The 14.6 acre property occupies a point that juts out into the harbor and contains a staggering 1,500 feet of waterfront.

The property first hit the market at $37,500,000 but Joel recently chopped the price by a stunning $5,000,000. This would indicate the big shot singer is getting serious about unloading this white elephant. The Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that one of the primary reasons Joel wants to sell this property is his frustration at not being able to build a dock to park his three boats.

See children, in the 1970s the town of Oyster Bay arranged for the harbor to become a national wildlife refuge and as such have forbid any new docks and piers. Yes children, sometimes even rich people are not able to pull the strings required to get what they want, even though we are quite certain Mister Joel did what he could do to throw his weight and name around in an effort to persuade town officials to bend the rules.

The house itself has 5 principal bedrooms, 3 staff rooms and two ancillary guest houses, one located right on the beach, that each have 3 bedrooms. Your Mama thinks three staff rooms is simply not adequate to house the huge numbers of people that are surely required to keep this lavish house running like a well oiled and property manicured machine.

The estate is considered Mister and Missus Joel's primary residence. However, the couple also own several other properties including a harbor front home in Sag Harbor, a newly purchased Nate Berkus decorated townhouse in New York's West Village, and a tremendous modern freak out in Miami Beach the couple recently put on the market for $13,900,000.

Sources: Forbes, Luxist, Big Time Listings, Real Estate Journal, Newsday

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Please explain the gigantic copper pots hanging above the kitchen table. Like, how would one cook with them when they're 10 feet off the ground?

Anonymous said...

Filling in the indoor cement pond is the deal breaker for me ;) BTW, do you think those ginormous wine bottles on top of the fireplace mantel are empty or full? Not a very classy way to store the vino IMO.

Anonymous said...

does anyone have a link to the "modern freak out" that is on the market?

Your Mama said...

ask and you shall receive.

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/04/pianomans-grand-miami-beach-digs.php

Anonymous said...

Yes, sadly, an uninspired kitchen (and a bit odd with that pot rack).

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I work for the town of Oyster Bay and would like to help clarify a number of staements made on this site rgarding Billy Joel and his house. 1.The potrack/chandelier raises and lowers with the simple flick of a switch. 2. The indoor pool was not filled in. It was merely covered over with a removeable floor so a piano could be supported. 3. The large format wine bottles on the mantel are purely for decor. They are empty. 4. Mr. Joel has not tried to use any influence or 'thrown his weight around' to get a dock installed on his property. On the contrary, he has always been friendly and courteous to town officials and residents as well. He has been a generous contributor to numerous civic projects that helped to improve the character of our village. 5.For the record, Mr. Joel has never been charged with,or found guilty of drunk driving. That is an assumption that has been stated as a fact so many times that it is now accepted as one. He is well-liked and highly regarded in our village and we have been proud to have him as a member of our community over the years.

Anonymous said...

it must stink to be a celeb, to some extent. people always making up stories and media printing what they think will sell papers and news. Joel must have a good enough reason to sell. He has grown children and how many places does one need to call home? He has decided to downsize, at his age i dont blame him. anonymous

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