Southampton building once housed offices for Billy Joel

Billy Joel was a tenant at this circa-1884 Southampton building that was originally a Southampton Coal & Produce barn and weigh station, its owner says. It is listed for $2.999 million.

Offices for Joel’s Maritime Music were here for about five years, says Joseph McLoughlin, owner of the building since the early 1970s.

“He had his piano there, and the office staff was in the building,” he adds.

Before the Piano Man rented space here, McLoughlin, formerly an elementary school teacher in the Hauppauge school district, bought the building to open Joseph McLoughlin Electrical Supply, which he ran for more than two decades before converting to rentals.

“I always wanted to get into business for myself in the hardware-type line. I was always pretty good working with electricity,” he says. “I lived here in Southampton, and if you wanted electrical supplies, you had to go to Riverhead.”

Wide-hewn pine wood floors and exposed ceiling beams are plentiful throughout the building, which also features wood and brick wall coverings. Dramatic brick archways are found in the lower level, which has thick concrete floors. The antique freight elevator, scale and conveyor belt motor are original to the space. There are three bathrooms.

In the South Fork’s rural heyday, farmers would weigh, pack and ship potatoes and other produce to market from the 8,000-square-foot facility, which is next to the Southampton train line and zoned for retail, commercial and industrial uses, says listing agent Brenda Giufurta of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

“When I saw it, I said, ‘This could be my retirement.’ And I was right. The building supports me, even now,” McLoughlin says.