Locust-on-Hudson Event Space

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  buffalobill (guest)

  Actress Uma Thurman and her hotel-owning boyfriend, Andre Balazs, plan to buy an estate in Staatsburg that was once owned by Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse magazine. George Cole, owner of George Cole Auction in Red Hook, said last week that the contents in the mansion on the estate were auctioned off and the property and house were "offered for sale." Cole said the auction was held at his business in Red Hook on Sept. 4 and Thurman, who was in attendance, decided they wanted the property. According to Cole, Thurman and Balazs have not officially purchased the property yet, but is likely they will. Cole said the sale will not be definite until mid-December. "At this moment, it is selling between $6 and $7 million," Cole said. "(The property) is more than 55 acres, and the (mansion) has at least 16 rooms." Thurman, who has starred in films such as "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," and "Gattaca," and Balazs are looking to purchase the home after Guccione lost the estate in February of this year after defaulting on a $14.5 million loan. Cole said the appraised value of the estate, which is called "The Willows," is $15 million. Longtime Staatsburg resident Edward Leadbitter said on Monday that the Dinsmore family originally owned what is now "The Willows" estate, and that it was called "The Locusts" estate at one time. The current mansion on the estate, according to Leadbitter, was built in 1941. Leadbitter added that the property was always privately owned. Bob Linville, a Staatsburg resident and former president and current member of the Staatsburg Library Board of Directors, said on Monday that he is glad to see that the mansion is remaining a "single family" residence. Linville and his wife Judy said the Gucciones allowed library officials to hold its annual fund-raiser event on "The Willows" grounds and in the mansion in 1996 and 1997. The Linvilles said Guccione's wife Kathy Keeton, who died of cancer in 1997 and is buried on the property, allowed library officials to hold the fund-raiser on the estate in 1997 even though she was "very ill." "We heard she (Keeton) passed away the night before the fund-raiser was held," said Judy Linville. "We got word back that she (Keeton) told a caregiver to have us go ahead and have the fund-raiser (despite her illness)," said Bob Linville, who is also a Town of Hyde Park Councilman. "That was extremely touching." Thurman has lived in the Hudson Valley region before. She use to own a home in Woodstock with her ex-husband Ethan Hawke, also an actor, and their children.

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment