Billy Joel sells Long Island gatehouse after two-year ordeal

US music icon Billy Joel has landed a buyer for a portion of his New York mansion after a lengthy wait. 

The Piano Man is under contract with a local couple for the sale of the gatehouse of his estate. The sale price is reportedly $US8.5 million ($13.5 million) the New York Post reports.

The five-bedroom property – also known as the staff house – is one of five separate houses on Joel’s MiddleSea estate. 

Despite only purchasing a portion of the mansion, the new owners will be hit with a $US90,000 ($143,000) annual tax bill. 

MiddleSea, the singer’s lavish Long Island compound, was first listed for sale in 2023. 

He took it off the market after a few months and then relisted it in September 2024 after finishing a lavish renovation. 

Originally listed for $US49.9 million ($79 million), the agents are now asking $39.9 million ($63.6 million) for the main house and remaining land. 

The gatehouse is about 500 metres away from the main house, a stately red brick mansion. 

Real estate agent Emmett Laffey told the media outlet Joel no longer lives in the property full time. He sometimes pops over for brief visits, usually opting to stay in the gatehouse or the three-bedroom guesthouse. 

For the ‘Uptown Girl’ singer, buying MiddleSea was the fulfilment of a childhood dream. 

As a working-class teenager dredging oysters on Long Island, he used to look at the brick mansion from a distance and think to himself, “I’ll never live in a house like that,” he told the New York Times. 

“If it’s not for me being able to take piano lessons, I probably would never have been able to afford a high-flying property like this. So, I named it after the first note which I learned on the piano, which was C.”

Joel bought the estate in 2002 and lived in it for the next 20 years. 

During that time, he transformed MiddleSea into an opulent home with a helipad, a bowling alley, a mahogany library and 600 metres of private beachfront. 

These days, Joel splits his time between New York and Florida, where he owns properties in Boca Raton, Sag Harbor and East Hampton.

MiddleSea has been divided into four lots for the sale: the main house and land, the gatehouse, and two empty waterfront blocks of land. 

Three of the four lots are still up for grabs. 

This is not the first time Joel has faced a delay with a property deal. In September last year, he found a buyer for his nine-bedroom Mediterranean-style home in the ritzy neighbourhood of Manalapan, Florida, after six years on the market.