Real LI

News Corporation chief executive Rupert Murdoch may have a new neighbor to carpool to work with. The house that conservative talk show host and Murdoch employee Sean Hannity was trying to buy has officially closed, real estate sources says. The 16-room mansion on Centre Island closed Wednesday. Hannity paid $8.5 million.

The Hampton-style mansion was purchased from a trust set up after a transfer of the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision’s James Dolan.

The home was listed with Peggy McCormack of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. Regina Rogers of Prudential Douglas Elliman represented Hannity in the deal. Neither agent would comment.

The sale of this home proves that despite a real estate slowdown, homes will sell if the price is right, and Centre Island is no exception. The Hannity house had originally been listed at $13.5 million in 2006, then earlier this year was reduced to $10.5 million. Patricia Altschul’s Centre Island manse went into contract last year soon after a price reduction from $18.5 million to $15.8 million. It closed in March 2008 for $12.5 million to Londoner Colin Buffin. Murdoch also recently dropped the asking price for his nearby mansion from $14.8 million to $12.8 million.

One holdout in the pricing game is Billy Joel, whose Centre Island estate, Middlesea, has been on the market since 2006. It was originally listed at $37.5 million in 2006, with a price drop to $32.5 million in early 2007, but Joel has not reduced his asking price in more than a year now and the home remains unsold.

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity closed Wednesday on a house in Centre Island, a real estate source tells Newsday. He paid $8.5 million for the 6.2-acre property, the source says. He bought the 16-room home from a trust named “2002 JLD Childrens,” which was set up after a transfer of the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision chief executive James L. Dolan. The house had been listed for $13.5 million. Read more about the property here.

Move over, the Brits are coming to Centre Island.

Last year when Patricia Altschul’s estate Southerly went into contract, listing agent Barbara Candee of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty proclaimed the new owner to be a denizen of the United Kingdom and a “lover of boats.”

Although Candee would not comment further, REAL LI has confirmed the buyer is Londoner Colin Buffin and his wife Susan. Buffin is chief executive of Candover, one of Britain's largest private equity firms and a competitive yachtsman who was surely lured by the property’s deep water dock.

The deal closed March 20. The latest asking price had been $15.8 million. The home sold for $12.5 million. The 10-acre estate had been on the market since 2006.

Altschul was travelling and could not be reached for comment. She is the wife of the late banker and philanthropist Arthur Altschul. His daughter is CBS contributing correspondent Serena Altschul.

Now that Southerly has sold, maybe there is hope for neighbor and Newsday-wannabe-owner Rupert Murdoch, who is listing his nearby estate for sale at $12.8 million. Billy Joel is also still trying to sell Middlesea on the island for $32.5 million.

Conservative talk show host and Long Island native Sean Hannity is in contract to purchase a 16-room Centre Island Colonial mansion, real estate sources tell RealLI. The home is currently listed under a trust named “2002 JLD Childrens,” which was set up after a transfer of the property from Deborah Dolan, ex-wife of Cablevision chief executive James L. Dolan.

Hannity, who grew up in Franklin Square and delivered Newsday as a boy, now lives in Lloyd Harbor. The new home in Centre Island is not far from one that his Fox News boss, Rupert Murdoch, has on the market for $12.8 million. Billy Joel is also trying to sell his mansion, which has an asking price of $32.5 million.

The Hampton-style house was built in 2005, and includes seven bedrooms, 7 1/2 baths, seven fireplaces, lighted tennis courts and a gunite pool. The property sits on 6.22 acres and includes 500 feet of water frontage. The taxes are $94,526 per year. The home is listed with Peggy McCormack of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

The latest listing price is $10.5 million.

Hannity's publicist declined to comment. McCormick and Regina Rogers of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who is supposedly representing Hannity in the deal, could not be reached for comment.

In the meantime, the NY Radio message board is abuzz that Hannity might be leaving ABC Radio in the next 60 days. "He apparently is building a home studio and may do the show from there via a different syndicator such as Fox," according to a post. That studio is being built at the Centre Island home, a real estate source tells RealLI. "He is supposed to close in about a week and a half, but isn't going to move in until he builds a studio on the property," the source says.

Dolly Lenz has seen many houses in her career as Prudential Douglas Elliman's top broker. So when she says that rocker Billy Joel's Centre Island estate is the "truly most amazing, breathtaking house and property I have even seen," that says a lot. Lenz, who is listing Joel's property for $32.5 million, adds that it "beats every Hamptons mansion, beats every Malibu and Bel Air mansion." She goes on in the e-mail: "I was speechless from the setting alone ... The house itself took my breath away." See more photos of the house here.

Powerhouse broker Dolly Lenz of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate now has the listing for Billy Joel's "Middlesea" estate in Centre Island. The 14,000-square-foot house is listed for $32.5 million. Lenz describes the property on her site as a "magnificent Tudor-style waterfront manor ... sited on over 14 acres of rolling lawns and naturalized landscaping." The estate "boasts 1,550 feet of direct waterfront that affords mesmerizing water views from every vantage point." Apparently "Oprah" designer Nate Berkus not only did up Joel and wife, Katie Lee's place in the West Village, as we discovered this week on the show. According to the Prudential listing, Berkus designed the living room here, too.

The property includes a gym, indoor and outdoor pools, a gourmet kitchen, a tennis court, a bowling alley, a guest cottage, a music room, a smoking bar and a wine cellar. There are threef buildings, with a total of 24 rooms, including eight full baths and five half-baths. There are 13 fireplaces.

Annual taxes are $208,463.

Joel last had the house listed with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty for $32.5 million. The listing lapsed last year, although word was that he still wanted to sell it.

See more photos of the property here.

Rocker Billy Joel put his Centre Island estate on the market because the village gave him grief over repairing the dock at the 14-acre waterfront spread, writes legendary publisher Dan Rattiner in his memoir to be released next month.

“I thought I could put one of my boats there and speedboat to Manhattan in twenty minutes when I needed to go,” Joel tells Rattiner, “…in the end, they wouldn’t let me do it…so I just gave up on it…the house is for sale.” Joel’s estate has been on the market since 2006. The current asking price is $32.5 million for the home where he and wife, Katie Lee, married in 2004.

Rattiner’s book, "In the Hamptons: My Fifty Years with Farmers, Fisherman, Artists, Billionaires, and Celebrities" (Harmony Books; $24.95), is full of reminiscences of Hamptons icons, including artists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, authors John Steinbeck and Spalding Gray, and his longtime friend Joel, who also owns a home in Sag Harbor and two in Sagaponack.

Over dinner at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, Rattiner writes, Joel explained what brought him out to the Hamptons in the first place, and what keeps him there. “I’m a Long Island boy, born and raised,” Joel says, “but I’m from the working man’s Long Island, Levittown. Massapequa. The working men and women live out east. And I want to be among them.”

A 4.19-acre Centre Island property owned by New York City businessman Dan Rotta is now listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman's Lorna Mann and Robert Olita. The price remains $14.5 million. Read more about it here.

The price on a 16-room Centre Island Colonial mansion, originally listed in late 2006 for $13.5 million, has been lowered to $10.5 million.

The home is currently listed under a trust named "2002 JLD Childrens." Public records show that the previous owner was listed as Deborah Dolan, whom real estate sources tell REAL LI is the ex-wife of James L. Dolan, chief executive of Cablevision Systems Corporation.

The Hampton-style house was built in 2005, and includes seven bedrooms, 7 ½ baths, seven fireplaces, lighted tennis courts and a Gunite pool. The property sits on 6.22 acres and includes 500 feet of water frontage. The taxes are $94,526 per year.

The home is listed with Peggy McCormack of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has chopped $2 million off the asking the price on Rosehearty, his 5-acre waterfront estate on Centre Island.

The 10,000-square-foot Colonial home went on the market last June for $14.8 million. The new asking price is $12.8 million. Despite the price drop, Murdoch and wife, Wendi, still stand to make a $5 million profit on the home; they purchased Rosehearty in 2003 for $7.8 million.

The home has 11 bedrooms, 7 ½ baths, and seven fireplaces. There’s also a pool, tennis courts and 260 feet of beach frontage. Listing agent Barbara Candee of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty says that the price reduction, "has been made to prepare for the spring market which is now upon us."

Money can’t buy all wishes and a broker teases:

An “under 40” Wall Street exec with millions has his eye on Billy Joel’s Centre Island estate, said broker Shawn Elliott.

The owner of Woodbury-based Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates has plans to show the client around Middlesea, reduced to $32.5 million since it went on the market $5 million higher in September 2006

But Elliott, such a teaser, won’t say who he’s bringing to the estate on confidentiality grounds. It’s just stuff like “definitely a well-known Wall Street person” from the broker.

“I won’t give you the name but if I did and you put in on Google, immediately you’d know who it is and a lot of people would know who it is,” he said. “They have a home in Florida and they have a home in Manhattan. They do not own a Hamptons house. So it’d be sort of like in exchange for having a Hamptons house, this would be closer to the city.”

Elliott said his first customer to Middlesea was a venture capitalist and boater who made an offer on the compound around November but was turned down.

That first client would have bought the 14-acre place if he could have his one big wish, the broker said.

“If I can land a helicopter here, we’ll make this happen,” Elliott recalled his client saying. “Nothing would make him happier than to be in Manhattan in 15 minutes.

“I checked it out. I called the town. No helicopter landing anywhere on Centre Island.”

It’s hard to find a Long Island home where the views can help de-stress high-powered big wigs in high-pressure businesses and where helicopter commuting is legal, so Elliott thinks his first client might be back once he weighs the options.

“When you get to this level, it’s not about the money necessarily,” the broker said. “You want what you want, and you’re willing to pay for it and you’re not willing to compromise.”

Should Billy Joel decide to put his Centre Island estate back on the market, he's now got more competition: The Hamptons-style waterfront home of Lowe Worldwide chief executive officer Stephen Gatfield has been listed for $11.25 million. The Centre Island home is next to Southerly, which is owned by Patricia Altschul, wife of the late banker and philanthropist Arthur Altschul (Arthur Altschul's daughter is CBS contributing correspondent Serena Altschul). That house, listed for $15.8 million, is in contract to a boat-loving United Kingdom native. A Brit, Gatfield is returning to London with wife, designer Eliza Tepper Gatfield, because of his frequent need to travel to the Far East. Morning Tide, as the 8,000-square-foot house is known, has "a slightly more angled view" than Southerly "looking more toward the Long Island Sound," says Barbara Candee, who is listing the property on behalf of the Locust Valley office of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. The custom designed house, completed in 2005 on 3.5 acres, has seven bedrooms and 5.5 baths, a tennis court, a wine room, a gym, a pool and a pool house warmed by a fireplace. "It's really a beautifully crafted home," says Candee, who is also representing Southerly as well as the nearby $14.8 million home of publisher Rupert Murdoch. Daniel Gale once represented Joel's $32.5 million home, which the singer took off the market last year.

Just like ex-husband Billy Joel, who wants to sell his Centre Island estate, supermodel Christie Brinkley might have a potential buyer for her Bridgehampton property. "There has been some activity," says Susan Breitenbach, senior vice president of the Corcoran Group, who is listing Tower Hill. Brinkley is asking $30 million. "We've had a couple of good showings," says Breitenbach. Earlier this week, as Real LI reported, broker Shawn Elliott said that his venture capitalist client wants to see Joel's house a second time. Joel is asking $32.5 million.

A venture capitalist wants a second viewing of a Billy Joel's Centre Island estate after seeing the posh compound on Saturday, said broker Shawn Elliott.

"The views were ridiculous," said the owner of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates, based in Woodbury. "He couldn't believe the views."

The singer wants his Middlesea estate to bring in $32.5 million, down from $37.5 million when he first put it on the market in September 2006.

The 14 acres cover a guest house, a beach house and the big house -- and that's why the house hunter wants a second look, probably this month.

"It's a lot to take in in one visit," Elliott said.

The broker was mum on the guy's identity but said he brings foreign investors into deals in this country.

With housing prices going down and the dollar falling in value, Europeans with euros to spare have been searching for bargains here in the same way U.S. residents go to Mexico for inexpensive vacations and properties.

The foreign angle is being touted by Elliott as he tries to convince Billy Joel's people that he can represent Middlesea and find a buyer. Recently, he and Joel's representatives had a sitdown talk, now that the property is off the listings of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

"I have a lot of European contacts with the way the euro is," the businessman said. "I'm playing that card. That's what I bring to the table."

Newsday photo / David L. Pokress

Actress Drew Barrymore was spotted in Centre Island recently filming for the upcoming HBO film adaption of the 1976 documentary “Grey Gardens."

But don’t get your hopes up for a local Barrymore sighting…this Centre Island is located in Toronto, Canada, not on Long Island’s North Shore.

Barrymore plays “Little Edie” Beale, cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived in a decaying 28-room East Hampton mansion with her mother, Edith Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”) who will be portrayed in the film by Jessica Lange.

The home gained notoriety when the Suffolk County Health Department conducted a series of inspections in 1971 and 1972, threatening to evict the pair if the place was not brought up to sanitary and building codes. At the time, Kennedy Onassis stepped in to help her relatives repair the home.

In 1979 Grey Gardens was purchased by journalists Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. The mansion has since been restored to its former glory and Bradlee and Quinn still spend one month a year there.

In 2006, the Broadway musical “Grey Gardens” opened, winning three Tony Awards in 2007. The HBO film is set to open in 2009.

Drew Barrymore: Robyne Beck / AFP / Getty Images; Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale: Photofest photo

Billy Joel, inside a building at his Centre Island estate, with two model boats he owns

Billy Joel may not have to wait anymore. Shawn Elliott, president of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates, says, "I have a customer for his house."

"He loves the water," says Elliot of his client, a businessman. "He's all about the water."

Joel has been trying to sell his Centre Island estate for more than a year. The 14-acre waterfront property went on the market for $37.5 million in September 2006. He bought the house for $22.5 million in 2002. Sources have told Newsday that his main reason for wanting to leave is frustration over not being able to build a dock for his three boats. Since putting the house on the market, he has purchased two homes in Sagaponack. He also has a house in Sag Harbor.

Last month, he let his listing with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty for the 14,000-square-foot mansion expire. Bonnie Williamson, who has represented the property for Daniel Gale, declined to comment today. She told Newsday this month that although the home is not listed on the firm's Web site, it is still for sale and the price remains a reduced $32.5 million.

Elliott says it's in his client's ballpark. "There's not a lot of inventory in the $10-million-plus open-listing market," he says. His client is "looking to trade up," but doesn't want to wait a year for a new house to be built for him on the North Shore.

"He really wants to look at the house," Elliott says.

Newsday Photo / Ken Spencer

The new owner of the 10-acre Centre Island estate known as Southerly hails from the United Kingdom, and is "a lover of boats," says listing agent Barbara Candee of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty.

The property, which has a deepwater dock, currently belongs to Patricia Altschul, wife of the late banker and philanthropist Arthur Altschul. His daughter is CBS contributing correspondent Serena Altschul.

The listing price for the mansion was $15.8 million. Candee did not reveal the selling price, but says that the transaction will close sometime in 2008. "It is a very happy outcome," she says. "The homeowner has been lovely and patient in this marketplace." The estate had been on the market for a little over a year.

Altschul's neighbors include Billy Joel and Rupert Murdoch, who have had their homes on the market this year.

Looks like Southerly, Patricia Altschul’s 10-acre Centre Island estate, has a buyer.

The home is now listed as “under contract” on the Web site of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. No word on the selling price, but the asking price had been $15.8 million for the better part of this year. The estate went on the market in 2006 at $18.5 million.

Altschul is the wife of investment banker and philanthropist Arthur Altschul, who died in 2002. He was the father of CBS contributing correspondent Serena Altschul.

The 10,000-square-foot, eight-bedroom Georgian-style home was decorated by Mario Buatta, whose client list has included Mariah Carey and Barbara Walters. The property overlooks Oyster Bay Harbor and comes with a deepwater dock, a private sandy beach and a two-bedroom cottage with its own fireplace.

Altschul's neighbors include Billy Joel and Rupert Murdoch, who have had their homes on the market this year.

"Many years ago, Billy Joel looked at this house," says Mona Holzman, who is listing this Centre Island property on behalf of June Shapiro Laffey Associates for $14.5 million. The 4.19-acre property is owned by New York City businessman Dan Rotta. Rotta, whose Progress Trading Co. imports Seiko watches and other brand-name products, had the main house built after purchasing the peninsula. "It's the most spectacular piece of property," says Holzman. "Where do you see a piece of property like that?" Joel, of course, ended up buying a nearby estate that he has been trying to sell. Rupert Murdoch is another neighbor, who also happens to be trying to sell.

Alexa Ray Joel will perform next weekend at a benefit for Save Sag Harbor, a community organization working to keep chain stores from spoiling the historic character of the village. Joel, featured in a video interview on Hamptons.com, says, “I’ll always have a place in my heart for all of Long Island, but who am I kidding, I favor Sag Harbor …it’s the one place that hasn’t changed.”

Joel's parents own at least $100 million in Long Island real estate between them. Her mother is supermodel and real estate maven Christie Brinkley whose Bridgehampton estate, Tower Hill, is on the market for $30 million. Her father is musician Billy Joel, who recently purchased Roy Scheider’s Sagaponack home for almost $17 million and whose Centre Island estate had been on the market for the past year for $32.5 million. The listing expired this week, although his former listing agent says he'll still sell.

Billy Joel's Centre Island listing with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty has expired. See the story here.

Billy Joel's Centre Island estate has disappeared from the Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Web site, where it has been listed for sale for the past year.

Bonnie Williamson, who represents the property, says that the home is still for sale, and the price remains $32.5 million for the 14,000 square foot mansion that Joel purchased in 2002. Joel paid $22 million for the home, and originally listed it last year for $37.5 million before reducing the price.

"Right now, we're just keeping it low key," Williamson said, adding that Joel feels the listing has already been public for a while.

Joel, who married wife, Katie Lee, in 2005 at the Centre Island estate, recently purchased another home for his bride in Sagaponack. That home cost the singer nearly $17 million.

Photo by Doug Kuntz