Play all audios:
A home on rocker Billy Joel’s Long Island estate sold Wednesday for $7 million, the real estate agent who brought the buyers to the deal told The Post exclusively. The closing on the Centre
Island gatehouse, where Joel has occasionally stayed, came amid news that the 76-year-old is recovering from a brain disorder known as normal pressure hydrocephalus that has forced him to
cancel performances while he undergoes physical therapy. The gatehouse — where the Piano Man had sometimes camped out while at Middlesea, the property’s name — had been listed for $8.5
million, The Post reported first. EXPLORE MORE The buyers purchased the 5,565-square-foot home and its nearly 5-acre beachfront property in a corporate name, said Paul Mateyunas, their agent
from Douglas Elliman. “They’re not famous,” said Mateyunas, a Centre Island homeowner who once owned a house next door to Joel’s complex, including its helipad and dock. In March, when the
gatehouse first went into contract, Emmett Laffey, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty, which is listing the estate, told The Post that the owners consist of a
couple living on Long Island’s tony North Shore. The appeal was the location, which was once owned by railroad magnate George Bullock after the turn of the last century, Mateyunas said.
“It’s a beautiful piece of eastern-facing waterfront property,” he said. Although Joel refers to the home as his gatehouse, it is actually a combination of the Bullock real estate’s
gatehouse and carriage house, said Mateyunas, an architectural historian who has written books about Long Island’s celebrated architecture. The two historic outbuildings were joined, he
said, to become a five-bedroom, four-bathroom setup with two kitchens and a heated pool, according to the listing. Yearly taxes are $90,000. Elsewhere on the property, Joel’s recently
renovated main house remains listed for sale. It comes with a helipad and a dock. It returned to the market last fall for $49.9 million after the completion of a major renovation, but has
since seen discounts. Joel never moved back into the main home after the work began. The gatehouse contains two master suites — both on the water. There is an outdoor kitchen inside a
screened-in patio, where there is a built-in gas grill. For security, there is an electric gate, an intercom and a camera.