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Hotel owner Andre Balazs and Thurman have entered into a contract to buy the 55-acre estate in the hamlet of Staatsburg formerly owned by Penthouse magazine Publisher Bob Guccione.
George Cole, of George Cole Auctions in Red Hook, sold the 16-room mansion to Balazs and Thurman following his Sept. 4 auction of the contents of the home.
"It's going to be Andre Balazs and his friend, Uma Thurman," Cole said of the purchasers.
A licensed real estate broker, Cole mentioned several times while auctioning Guccione's belongings that the mansion also was for sale. Cole said Balazs and Thurman attended the auction and expressed an interest in the property.
Cole declined to reveal the purchase price but said the property sold for less than its appraised value of $15 million. He said he expects the couple to close on the sale before Dec. 15.
Guccione and his third wife, Kathryn Keeton, used the estate as a weekend home. Keeton died in 1997 and is buried on the property.
Guccione lost the property, known as The Willows, in February after defaulting on a $14.5 million loan. Kennedy Funding of New Hackensack, N.J., acquired the estate when Guccione declared bankruptcy.
Although Guccione was allowed to keep his personal belongings after the bankruptcy, Cole said, he had no room for them in his already furnished New York City townhouse.
Thurman lived for a time in Woodstock with her former husband, actor Ethan Hawke, and their two children. She has starred in such movies as the two-volume "Kill Bill" series, "Batman & Robin" and "Pulp Fiction."
Balazs, previously married to Katie Ford, chief executive officer of the Ford Model Agency, owns hotels in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles.
