Love At First Site - Billy Joel's New Island Mansion

When rock legend Billy Joel and his wife, Katie Lee set their sights on this La Gorce Island estate, it became their mission to own it – and now they do.

Nevermind that at the time that the celebrity couple fell in love with the island manse, the original builder still inhabited it – Joel and his wife had their hearts set on the Biscayne Bay villa - so they met the owner’s asking price of $13.5 million.

The beautiful stone structure features 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms and sits majestically on a 303,310-square-foot lot. No doubt a large part of the home’s appeal for Joel was the use of beautiful natural materials. A variety of different stone is used throughout the villa. The palm-lined driveway for example, paved with gold travertine, as well as the columns outside, are composed of solid marble.

One of the home’s bathrooms is outfitted in onyx; another is composed of European limestone. The living room features a hand-carved stone fireplace and mantel. The home’s window sills and moldings are all imported travertine, and there are semiprecious stones sprinkled throughout the house, making the house a real gem here in South Florida.

-- Taken from "Stone in Love" by Allison Edwards Summarized by Valentina Mandarin of MLR Realty