And people were coming from all over the island. And if you were wearing them and you went and got in your car and turned the heater on, you smelled like piss. Aug. 16, 1954 - February 25, 2023 Loving and loyal husband, father, brother, uncle, great uncle and friend. And she kept, George, please, go save my house. I mean, lets face it. Mrs. Mackey. Burke: Oh, well, look what I did. She married her husband Thomas Burke on April 24, 1965, and had five children. Burke: To put it backbecause the house was ruined, it was in terrible shape. There was nine of us in the whole family. And I took that for years. Q: Well, tell me about getting started on this house. Id come back up and I could still smell it in the hallway. I fixed it up. Burke: Well, I hope it gets maintained. Q: Did you start the restoration process at that house? Lets move out, youre being kicked out anyway, the house is sold. I found a beautiful place in Tottenville and I opened it and called it the Tidewater Inn. Q: And so all these items went upwalked up the stairs and were, carried back down the stairs. What the hell is this? All of a sudden, she went, Youre in my house, and get out! Holy Christ. Or is there a way for things to be changed? Put through the years, people recognized it and everything. John T Burke passed away on April 22, 2015 in Whiting, NJ and is under the care of. It was under your bunk. If you dont want to come dont show up. And he said since hes been here, he has nobody here. Because the other way, my uncle was digging into whatever a little bit of savings he had, in order to pay. And that was, Mrs.these mirrors came from that house, they were in the parlor in that houseWhat the hell was her name? But that was a condo. I dont need The Death of Cleopatra hanging above my fireplace. And I didnt realize it because I was always working. Eventually, he was able to move his collection of Victorian-style furnishings safely into the home, and add to it larger pieces of furniture to complete the restoration. George Burke is one of these dedicated keepers: He minds the Seguine Mansion, which he bought in 1981. And she had this woman who was a caretaker. Obituary George W. Burke, age 63, of Hull, entered into eternal rest on October 2, 2021. And then Id been in Europe all that time. But it doesnt work that way. Thats how I got to know Adriana Scalamandr and the Scalamandrs. And that went for years. And I could turn the horses loose and theyd keep all the fields cut and mowed, you know? The house is haunted, she said, if youre interested in it, George, heres the key to the front door, you go. And as I said, there was a big flight of stairs that went up and a big porch across the whole front of the house. So she finally died. Burke: Yes, he did that little sofa there. Thats the only thing in the house left from the Seguines. I mean, these little gold chairs, are Victorianthats a Victorian chaireverything is really Victorian. It was unbelievably gorgeous. And with the Air Force, I enjoyed every minute. And how people went along with them, I dont know either. Troy. Who Where Receive obituaries Yenula Hennaka February 24, 2023 Thats annoying certain people. What was it, in the city? Ill make you the drapes. The drapes are still up there. It was unbelievably gorgeous. And I said, What in the hell is this doing in my house? So I opened up the lid and there was this old lady laying in there, with this big lace collar around her neck, and her hair was puffed up behind her head, like that, was all gray. So, thats it, I said, to hell with it. And he kept up with him, up until the time Mario passed away. Q: And how did you keep track of all the items in your collection as they were moving from, Burke: Well, a lot of this stuff, I never got back, because once you left it for years and years, you werent going to go back and say, Well, give me that, and give me this. Was it your mother I gave her all the blue and. If they brought flowers, it had to be lilacs. So I said, Oh. So that was thatI got that little story. He introduced me all the time tobecause look at look at what he was. Unbelievable. But, thats what I did. Burke: Yes, she held the mortgage on it. And I took that room and made it into the dining room. But, God, that was almost 100 years ago, you know? The developers came in with bulldozersbulldozed that mansion, bulldozed the stables. Facebook gives people the power to. If you stood outside and looked at it, the staircase went that way. Help NYPAP document and celebrate NYCs preservation movement. Developers. Thats what I wanted. Did quite well. So, unfortunately, there arent many people that care that way anymore. He had the military ship the items back to family members in New York City, a perk of military service that made moving his collection back to the States possible. Burke: I went and I was stationed in England, and I loved being in England. Q: Can you tell me about the ghost in that house? That was the mansion. I need to get someone in to do a good cleaning on the house, someone to take care of maintaining it. Daller: What about the coat? So I go downstairs. Ill help renovate it, fix it up and such. And thats what we did. Daller: No, that still has to be discussed. https://www.nypap.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BurkeGeorge_20211109_access_redacted.mp3. And that still is, today, one of the great places around here, the Old Bermuda Inn, and John still owns it. So they built it like an attic and it was called an attic but it was a whole complete story. And they did. I moved in, I cleaned it all up. And my neighbor across the street, who had lived there forever, she comes over again with a couple of little plants for me. So I run downstairs. So here I was with all this stuff, sending it home to my family, sending it to my sisters. In fact, her husband was a big-wig. View the profiles of people named George Burke. And I got a good price for that. Q: Was it a similar style? People didnt want it because it had such a reputation as being haunted. Burke: And that was called the Tidewater Inn. They were gorgeous. Christ, we had a good time. And my sister, Bess, she was married to Walter, her husband, who was in the Navy. My sisterher mother [indicates Daller], Francesmy sister living in the Bronx, she got me a little apartment and she got me a job working for Saks Fifth Avenue. That was gorgeous. So I went down and I just went around and everything I seenall the stuff you see hanging in this house, most of it come from me going around and wheeling and dealing in, you might as well say, the black market. They cant just say, The doors are open for anybody, just walk in! Somebody will walk in, and say, Oh, I like those chairs, pick them up, and take them, and theyll be gone. We all got coupons. And he owned the funeral home. Youd have to see the house to see what Im talking about. Things like that? I want it now. I could never get it. George Memon's passing on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 has been publicly announced by Martin Hughes Funeral Home in Staten Island, NY. They were all along the waterfront here. Burke: Hawaii. Was very little time on here. Q: So those things that you got later on, afterthey didnt come from Europe. And she said, George, you have so much with design and such, I want you to take over the wallpaper department and the fabric department. I did fantastic for the store. I could. But I restored all that. And, I had a lot of time over there in London and so I decided, Well, hell, Im going to go to school and learn something. So I took interior design. And my nephewwhat the hell was he? That came in part from the attorney. Q: When you were youngwhen you were a kid. You werent on Staten Island. But the problem is, its so limited on Staten Island. One woman wouldnt go it, cant think of her name. And I was so damn busy, I never got to go home. So I rented the apartment next door, and I broke a hole in the wall. Anyway, there was three things that I found by doing some worklike, giftsI forget what they were. And the fact that somebody could save a house like this, and want to show it to people, and let people hear about the history behind it? So there wasnt a lot of time spent here. So as long as I own it, I own it, theyll pay for it. So it just became a moot point. Q: I wanted to ask, also, theres a painting of you in the house, right? Daller: See, now you learned about kitchens. I mean, Captains Quarters, instead of building all those condos down there, it would have been beautiful to have another stately home there. So I come home dead tired. Q: Was that house that you restored in a similar condition as this house? And the only reason why this survived is because nobody wanted the farmhouse! I open the door to the parlor. They even stopped you riding in the parks. I was in the mansion when the sisters lived there. So thats my uncles hope for it as well. I think there were hundreds of people that worked there. And I said, Was that a dream? You made enough money. Q: Okay, all of that. So coming back to it was a change. Thats ittheres no more of them. Burke: All that stuff from England? That was a great house. Burke: And its great when you have friends come, you have extra bedrooms, you can put them all up. Daller: That was the house that had ghosts. And they said he had the box, and took it with them. And I had this goddamn old sergeant who was going back also, but he was getting out of the service, and he was being discharged. So its a shame. I was born on Oct. 11, 1930, one of nine siblings, to an. And he said, Mom, Ill move in to the other part of the house. Because she begged me. Burke: Its right on the Boulevard and it goes down to the beach. Copyright 1998 2023 New York Preservation Archive Project. And you can ask[gesturing to Daller], Daller: Everybody got something. The woodwork, the moldings, the parquet floors. If you lived in Alaska, where it was always cold, it was fine. Got a good price for a couple of other real estate pieces that I bought and fixed up and sold. Theyre going out for the garbage. I said, No, no, no, Im trying to take them. So I took them and I had them all redone and reupholstered, and here they are. Interviewing George Burke, and. Lives in Rochester, New York. He brought a crowd with him and it was just to tell him thank you for everything that hes done. And there were two windows, like this. And thats what they were doing in France to keep from getting it taxed. In fact, he was just a few years older than I, and wasnt it last year we were trying to locate him? So all the big mansions were built with outside kitchens. Theyre very few. Q: So part of why it closed was because. Burke: Yes. You know, he just passed away. Do you drink? No, we dont drink. So I would collect all the stamps. Shit. You said you started with the basement. And it didnt take long to sell because it was a big piece of property, nice house. One of the doors was shot, so I took this door off, and when I did, the brick wall, on the side, started falling out. Daller: It was like, we cant even find him anymore. So this house tells a particular story, a long history, but it cant tell the history of the other houses because they were so different. Valhalla. I probably gave it to Bess. More beautiful than peoples houses. And I had beautiful big pieces of Meissen that I got when I was in Germany, and it all went here and there andI cant get it back. So if this can remain a part of the history, thatll be great for people to appreciate. I was maybe nineteen, twentysomething like that. I dont know if it ever took off. Soon, nobody had room in their house to store anymore of my stuff. And in the meantime, I made a couple of little investments and they turned out very well for me. Q: And did you keep records of the restoration process? I could make another funeral parlor out of that. And I said, No, lets not make a funeral parlor. And the house was really, needed shapebut thank God it was built as well is it was built, otherwise it would have fallen down. And I would just would go around and Id just pick stuff up. When did it start to feel done? People: Mario Buatta, Luis Caizares, Linda Daller, John Krawchuck, James and Kathleen Pistilli, Adriana Scalamandr, John Scalia, Elizabeth Bess Seguine Aug, Joseph Seguine, Organizations: Friends of the Seguine Mansion, Historic House Trust, House of Scalamandr, NYC Departments of Parks and Recreation, Sherwin-Williams, U.S. Air Force, Places: Annandale, Hammersmith College, Port Richmond, Old Bermuda Inn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Seguine Mansion, St. George, Staten Island, Tidewater Inn, Tottenville, The New York Preservation Archive Project. But I dont remember seeing the main house. Daller: Well, remember how much it took to paint the whole house, and how you had to paint sections of it? Burke: Well, I knew how to do it. I spent enough time breaking my back. I said, No, no, no. Burke: So I did that [sold the Tidewater Inn]. So when he left the apartment and came to Staten Island, things started to move back into different sisters again until he was ready to relocate it again. And that was nothing but a little house that caught firewas just a little, little house. Formal gardens, stablesstables that you could live in. The fact that the Seguine familythis was the farmhouse, their mansion was in Rossvilleand thats long gone. Burke: No, who gave me that? If you give me a big helping hand here. I said, You know, I dont make that much money. Q: And thats what allowed you to buy this house? And I only have so much money being what I am. So he said, Dont worry about it. But thats what that was. I had no idea that that was it, when I bought the house or anything. Burke: I think that waswhod ya call-it got me involved with that. She stated, George, I want you to save my house, and agreed to sell the house for a feasible sum in exchange for his promise to restore it. Burke: Okay. Right across the creek. He was in the Air Force. And I often wondered what happened to that brooch because I gave it to Bess. And then finally she sold the house and she bought a beautiful place in Greenwich Village and moved to Greenwich Village. And the kitchen was outside. So I said, whew! Is there anything else that you would like to add about the house as it is now, the history, or the future of the house? Big fluted columns with big Corinthian capitals on them. But that was the cistern for doing all the laundry and everything in the basement. I slept in it, lived in it, ate in it. In this interview, Burke talks about working with designer Mario Buatta, along with the House of Scalamadr, to select furniture and fabrics to decorate the home in the Victorian style. And Ed was very good at taking dents and things out of cars and he could spray paint. Daller: Oh, theOh God now, whats it called? Daller: But when you got it, it really was in need of repair. Because he paid for the entire outside himself. And they repaired all these taxis, repainted them, and then sold them all to Cuba. Where all the servants lived. And it was one of those busy, busy, goddamn nights. Prince Edward Island. Daller: Oh, thats exactlyI mean, because that was the reason for getting a board, was to also help get things done. Lets stay friends. Well, the paintings and the small stuff like thatthat like that mirror and those paintings and all that stuffthat was all the little stuff. And that was the Air Force. And I just got a call from all my lady friends saying that my house is falling apart. By Carol Ann Benanti | benanti@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's designated one of Staten Island's signature society events of the year, a. She was a very good friend of mine, a really pretty lady. This old? What the woman who was caretaking her, what she had to do was constantly keep lilacs next to the bed. He was an old craftsman from the other side. The Seguine Mansion, also known as The Seguine-Burke Mansion, is located on Lemon Creek near the southern shore of Staten Island. Visitation will be held on April 24, 2015 at 7:00 pm at Casey Funeral Home, 350 Slosson Ave, Staten Island, NY. But I mean, that wasthe holes, the plaster gone. In fact, my mother worked there. And he died young. I said I was the only person at that timemy uncle gave me my sweet sixteen there, and all my friends were invited to come formal. Daller: The stables. Matthew Funeral Home Inc 2508 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY (718) 761-5544 Send flowers. Before he left, the house was fine. And over the years, it became just prohibitive to try and do. And that was the end of them. He appreciated it. But down here, all the beautiful homes that were down here are gone. Thats the usual setup, I think, for historic houses. Daller: You met some interesting people there. So I stayed there, worked for him for years. Right? Oh, they loved me. And also about the history of Staten Island, or the style that the house is decorated in, the Victorian style, your collection. Then upstairs, was all the bedrooms. Q: Did you keep up a conversation with Mario Buatta about. He spends time in every part of it. And we used to say, Wow, wonder who lives there? I bought the house and Bess and Marge came over. That house, it was a big French mansard, big Victorian. I was born right in the hospital across the street, and grew up 90% of my time on Staten Island until I became old enough and I joined the military. I mean, you talked about it, when you were a kid, that it was this big house that you would see when you were out on, Daller: Its a part of the history of Staten Island. But unfortunately, it all fell in. Its still there, you can see it. Staten Island, New York. They cant do anything. Q: Today is November 9, 2021. The one owned by the steel companywas that a beautiful house! . Eric. I dont want you in this house. And I took John in as a partner, but I owned the Old Bermuda Inn and the two buildings. Burke: Yes. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. The following is a roundup of obituaries published on SILive.com. Daller: Well, its just the fact that the South Shore has gotten very built-up. But thats part of whats been going on down here. Everybody came in to a coldwater flat in the Bronx and walked in amazed because theyve never seen anything like that. This the expensive piece of property! They sold it to the developers. Burke: So that should pretty well cover it, I think. So, Id do that. You want to have someone living in it, you cant have an empty house. I know the Port Richmond store you just bought. Chris was the one that got involved with it. And the house across the street from it, the Old [Sir Walter] Tyrrell House. And that painting of me, thats upstairs in my bedroomdid you ever see it? All that gorgeous porcelain, like the Flower Sellers Childrenits a big piece like that. That was a shame. So, I would saywhat was it?the spring, and in the back of the house was the entrance to the cellar with the double doors, where you walked down the stairs, and it was all brick, and it had the doors. Daller: Well, they hope to. Burke: Oh, I loved her. Q: Your collection of the items that you bought from Mrs. Murphy. So I had people come in and wanted to buy the Tidewater Inn. And so they lost it. They didnt even have soap. Daller: I think weve touched on everything, really. And if I couldnt take care of them, Id call down to the base and theyd send a helicopter and theyd pick them up and take them down to the hospital, because we had to take care of them, because Alaska was ours, and all the Eskimos was our responsibility. But the upper story of the house was two more floors. Ill tell you the good stuff! [laughs] And that was it. Im no bulldozer!. The roof was shot because the old guy that was caretaker here, he used to walk around on the roof and watch all the boats in the harbor. Destroyed. Burke: Well, look at the mansion! Or did you have to just guess and make decisions? And there was nobody but my mother and I now, living in our house. Burke: Ed. I loved them too. So I figured, oh, shit. George Burke Obituary It is always difficult saying goodbye to someone we love and cherish. We were doing other parties at the time, the only thing we still maintain is the White Party. Im only a salesman in a department store. I said, and its going to take a lot of money to put that house back together. She said, Well, Im going to help you all I can. And I said, But why would I fix a house I didnt own? And she said, Well, why dont we talk about that. She said, If youre interested in buying it, I will make the arrangements that you can own it. This was in the East Bronx, this was on 167th and College Avenue. Oh, God, I worked so damn hard. George Burke was born on Staten Island and grew up in Annandale before moving to Florida with his family. Im gonna go look. I woke up with a sweat. And I had more bargains from Mrs. Murphy. Yes, the dining room and the kitchen was on the other two, side. Burke: years ago, because I couldnt afford to keep it. George Burke. Daller: The staircase wasnt even straight. Yes. And when youd come down, there wasthe stairwell come down, and it was a double parlor, like this, and where this door was, was with two double doors. There isnt a room he doesnt go into. And what they did is they bought a whole fleet of old taxis. So Id go over there and, of course, Bess Seguine was always over there. So one day, my sister Bess said to my mother and me, she said, Go pack. Burke: Her sister has it [indicating Daller]. The Old Bermuda Inn. And I had a beautiful restaurant and a bar connected to it. Because Evelyn didnt like the house, his wife. So what I did, I decided, well, Id go inand we had where you could buy all your liquor and such in the post exchange. Or you can do a small whatever. I just repainted. So she was always, Come on, George. So thank you. Daller: But he has albums upstairs, photos. Its down in Tottenville, beautifully done. Well. The Seguine nestled in the back of his mind, Burke joined the Air Force and moved to London when he was 19. I put the post on it up under the floor where the newer posts in the staircase was upstairs, and then, when I took the jack away, it sat on the post. And I lived there for quite a few years. Q: Andif this is something that you cant discuss, let me knowbut, for example, if you decide to repaint, like you did in this room, is that something that the board fundraises for? You start the restoration process at that house, someone to take a lot of time spent here, pay... For anybody, just walk in if you stood outside and looked at it theyll... Bess and Marge came over that little sofa there keep from getting it taxed, joined! Is because nobody wanted the farmhouse old Bermuda Inn and the only thing in the East Bronx, this in! 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