Home That Inspired Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’ Is Up for Sale | CPT PPP Coverage

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Billy Joel took a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line to reach this house, which is now hitting the market for $2.5 million.

The home that inspired the song “New York State of Mind” is steps from the Hudson River in Highland Falls, N.Y. Located about 50 miles north of Manhattan, the roughly 3-acre estate was rented in the 1970s by the Grammy winner and his then-wife Elizabeth Weber.

Joel was on his way to the house when the song came to him, he said through a spokesperson, and he finished it when he got there. “New York State of Mind” appeared on the 1976 album “Turnstiles,” which also featured the song “Summer, Highland Falls.”

Built in the 1950s, the roughly 4,300-square-foot house has five bedrooms and unobstructed views of the Hudson River, according to listing agent Jody Atkinson of Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty. The property also has a pool, a three-bedroom carriage house, a one-bedroom cottage and a vineyard.

The home’s connection with Joel has made it a unique piece of musical history, according to Sean Donnery, who is selling the house along with his sisters, Kim and Emily-Kate Donnery. “One day around 10 years ago, I was sitting on the property and this guy on a motorcycle pulled up to the edge of the yard,” said Sean Donnery, who grew up in the house. “It ended up being a Billy Joel historian, so we gave him a tour.”

Sean Donnery said his parents, James Peter Donnery and Roxanne Donnery, bought the property in the 1980s for approximately $100,000 and lived there until they died earlier this year. 

In the late 1800s the property was part of J.P. Morgan’s roughly 700-acre summer estate, which was later divided into separate parcels, Atkinson said. Morgan’s home on the estate burned down in the 1940s and the existing home was built on the same foundation, he said. Materials from Morgan’s house, including bricks, were incorporated into the new house.

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Sean Donnery said his parents turned the property into a bed-and-breakfast in the 1990s, after he and his sisters moved out. They often host the families of cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which is just north of the home. One of the bedrooms, named the Billy Joel Room, has wallpaper designed to look like sheet music. The home has “always been there to share,” he said.

The bed-and-breakfast is still in operation and is managed by Donnery’s sister Kim Donnery.

The median listing price in Highland Falls is $399,200, according to Realtor.com. (The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com are both owned by News Corp.) Waterfront properties in the area similar to this one have sold for over $1 million in recent years, Atkinson said. 

She said the home’s ties to Billy Joel could attract home buyers who are fans of his music. “He’s such an iconic songwriter and a huge piece of American culture,” she said.