The celebrated musician – best known for songs such as She’s Always A Women – first laid eyes on the property when he worked a job dredging oysters from the sea.

“I’ll never live in a house like that,” he reportedly said to himself at the time, admiring its grandiose structure. But many decades later, and several Top 40 hits later, Billy Joel bought that expansive mansion on Centre Island, New York.

Spread across a residential area of Oyster Bay in Long Island, MiddleSea mansion (as Billy calls it) takes up 26 acres of land.

There’s the Main House, the Beach House, a Gate House, the Guest House, and the Maintenance House, as well as three swimming pools, a bowling alley and a helipad. There’s also a sandy beach, stretching over 2,000 feet, that graces the edge of the property.

“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,” Billy told the New York Times.

The story goes that his mother was keen for Billy to learn the piano; he, himself, less so – he’d rather have played out with his friends. But hours spent playing on the keys lead to an extremely successful and lucrative career in music.

Speaking about the MiddleSea mansion he could finally afford, Billy said: “I love this property. I don’t think there’s a property as beautiful as this.

“It’s got that Gatsby sense to it, which I dreamed about as a little boy. When I hand over the keys, there’ll be some regret.”

But why is Billy selling a home that he holds so dearly? While the star has another home on Long Island, his base is now in Florida.

His two youngest daughters, aged seven and nine, reside in the Sunshine State as that’s where they go to school. “Once they started going to school, you’re kind of locked in,” Billy admitted.

With his home on the market, an open house to view the 18-bedroom property was “by invitation only” with only a selective group of people in attendance.

Potential buyers are considered to be in the “0.1 percent” of the most wealthiest people on Earth, appealing to A-list celebrities and mogul business people.

As to who will reside next in the mega mansion is up to the market to decide – and whoever makes the best offer.