Sean Hannity's Centre Island home sells for $12.7 million

The Centre Island estate of Fox News commentator Sean Hannity has sold for $12.7 million, about a million less than its $13.75 million asking price, though the added cost of the furnishings “took it to over $13 million,” the property's broker told Newsday.

Shawn Elliott, president of Nest Seekers International’s “Ultra Luxury Division,” said the 5.76-acre waterfront estate between Long Island Sound and Oyster Bay sparked a bidding war, despite the reduced final price.

“I'll tell you something: Sean shut it down,” said Elliott, a longtime resident of the Town of Oyster Bay. “Of all the people bidding, [the eventual buyer] started at the highest [amount]. He didn't over-negotiate — the buyer negotiated with class. And at the end of the day, after the contracts had been signed by the buyer but before the contracts were signed by Sean, a higher offer came in. And Sean stayed with the gentleman who [originally] made the offer on the house.”

First listed on May 2, the property — with its 10,674-square-foot Colonial home, built in 2005 — went into contract on May 9 and closed on June 7, Elliott said. The buyer already is a resident of the New York/Long Island area and is in the process of moving in.

Hannity had purchased the estate in a gated community for $8.5 million in 2008. He additionally “put millions into this house” for renovations that included a par 3 single-hole golf course with sand traps and several tee boxes and a putting green, the broker said. Even with the cost of renovations the property turned a profit, he added.

While the buyer is a fan of Hannity, that was a not a consideration for either party, Elliott said. One primary motivation for the purchase is the property’s spud barge, sometimes colloquially referred to as “a deep water dock,” Elliott said. “The buyer is a boater,” he noted, “and there are a limited amount of homes on Centre Island that have a spud barge.” The property has 500 feet of bay frontage and an 81-foot private dock, according to the listing.

The new owner has no immediate plans to renovate. “He loved every single thing that Sean and his girlfriend Ainsley [Earhardt, also a Fox News personality] had done to the home, with a designer. He loved everything so much he bought everything in it.”

In addition to a living room and dining room, there is a den/family room, an exercise room, a wet bar and a three-car garage. Each of the seven bedrooms has an en-suite bath, and the home also has two half-baths. In the kitchen are marble countertops and “a professional-grade gas range,” the listing says, with an adjacent breakfast nook.

The grounds include a swimming pool, a tennis court and a pickleball court.

Hannity, who was born in New York City and raised in Franklin Square, has not commented on the sale. On his radio show Jan. 2, he said that because he had found New York State income tax too burdensome, he had moved to Florida.

“I've been threatening now to do this for quite a while,” he said on air. “But we are now beginning our first broadcast from my new home.”

The Centre Island estate has annual property taxes of $146,216.67, according to the listing.