Q: And so, what sort of vision do you have for, you know, the next the next forty years, for how the grounds are maintained and how. And then, on the side of the house in the back, there was a little piece built out. And she said, George, do you know who this is? and with her big Southern accent. Daller: Thats been acquired over the years. Those stables? Q: The stuff that you got in England, from Mrs. Murphy. You know, everybody knew him, and everybody, wow. But she used to wear three, four dresses and she smelled like an old goat! You buy me out. And he bought me out. They were all womens stuff. Staten Island, Brooklyn, New York, Kings, Long Island, and New Jersey (718) 966-7800 Hes done it for forty-plus years, now its time to give back. And I could turn the horses loose and theyd keep all the fields cut and mowed, you know? Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. That whole salon set there was a Victorian salon setand the couch is a camelback. I had no idea that that was it, when I bought the house or anything. Devoted father of Matthew I. Burke, Jason L. Burke, and Georgina P. Burke, all of Hull. They were great. Ill make you the drapes. The drapes are still up there. But I restored all that. And I had a little house in Tottenville so I decided, well, Ill move into this big housein hereand Ill get rid of all the property that I have in Tottenville. Burke: Its never finished! But it doesnt work that way. Then I startedI said, You know, theres a lot of things on this end of the island nobody wants, its the forgotten-end of the island. Isnt that a huge house theyre building, you told me? Burke: Well, a good example is the one right here at the end of the street. And they did. And they were slate, the roof, and by walking on the slates, they broke and they slid off, and wherever they slid off, the rain poured through because it was holes. And I wanted these little chairs tufted but he had passed away before he could get around to tuft. Just as long as its saved and its here. Q: So this is going to part of an online archive. But that was the cistern for doing all the laundry and everything in the basement. Is that what you want? Burke: Yes. Burke: Well, I wanted a beautiful Victorian look. A lot of these drapes, they did. I moved in, I cleaned it all up. Loving son of Joan (Perry) Burke of Plymouth and the late George W. Burke. And as I said, I was in the military up there and we werent a big group of military, it was like a small base. The Seguine nestled in the back of his mind, Burke joined the Air Force and moved to London when he was 19. Always, in that vase in the hall. George, now in his eighties, donated the house in exchange for a life tenancy, which has made living here a lot easier. And he said, Mom, Ill move in to the other part of the house. Get out. I mean, I had a beautiful condo in Florida. But he did a lot of the work for you. And it was called SS White [Dental Manufacturing Company]. Births: July 1847-48, July 1853-1909 Deaths: 1795, 1802-04, 1808, 1812-1948 Marriages: June 1847-48, July 1853-1949 *Includes records for western Bronx, 1874-97, and eastern Bronx, 1895-97. And I never got along with her that much because everything I wanted to do, she said, No, no, no, I dont like that. Because we went to about every Air Force base in Europe there was, and I got around to see everything. And I dont like this. And shed go to her father and her father and say, You know, George, shes my daughter, and this and thatand I said, Yes, well, John, let me tell you something. Burke: Okay. And I made a lot of money. And then Iwhatd I do then, Ioh, I paid for this house, didnt I? The stables, everything has to remain the same. It was his first time off of Staten Island. Burke: Well, I dont know if people will ever realize in years and years to come that I saved so much, but they did give me a plaque for restoration. You cant ride on the street. You know, nobody wanted to end it but nobody wanted to, say, Lets do it. Burke: Yes. Its just a shame. 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. Or is there a way for things to be changed? Victor. Its all part of history, and theyre just destroying it every way they can. And it was actually three stories high. After Burke returned to Staten Island, he purchased and restored two houses and an old restaurant and bar before he was contacted by Bess Seguine in 1981, who had inherited the then-deteriorated Seguine Mansion. And you would have been taxed in this country if it was already like that. But it looked like an attic with the roof like that and everything. And I took that room and made it into the dining room. 06/26/1943 - 02/20/2023. Lots of photos, costs, everything. Q: The Friends of the Seguine Mansionthe friends group. And they said he had the box, and took it with them. And through all the years that the old lady had this woman taking care of her, the lilacs were always in bloomwhen they were in bloom, they were in the house. He said, What in the hell youre buying this old piece of shit for? He said, Is it insured? I said, Yes, I took big insurance on it. He said, Good. You want to take down every statue thats been there for a thousand years because, No, that statue shouldnt be there. And thats where we are today. This was the farmhouse. Daller: Well, you got involved with Burkes Landing with Scalia. And there was a whole other floor, another story, and its built with the French style, in the French mansard. He was always at the stables there. And the house was like this, a big piece with two big wings. Stole all that carved stuff, stole all that stuff, that whole box of stuff. George Burke's White Party NEW! And I got a big certificate for saving that. 6389 Amboy Road. Unfortunately, all the grounds areI dont even know if the house is there anymore! Wow, what a great place. I said, now here you are, the woman we always wondered about, asking me if Im interested in saving that house? They tore down those two nice little cottages that were there. [laughs] But, itll be here. Its still there in Port Richmond. I found these here on Staten Island in somebodys basement! Thats not good. The same thing thats going on with statues. Burke: To put it backbecause the house was ruined, it was in terrible shape. Yes. But unfortunately, all the stuff up there was cured by urine. She had a caretaker or she had a woman that took care of her, or something. And I often wondered what happened to that brooch because I gave it to Bess. He worked by himself. Daller: Thats a story you should share, about the lilacs and the lady. And my father died, and we were all very young. I moved in the house, and I would come in the house, and right in the front hallway, you could always smell lilacs. And that guy, look at the size of that house he just built. So while I used to work then with them, and then I decided, this is not for me. The woodwork, the moldings, the parquet floors. And a friend of mine I was very good friendly with was John. I was always in the operating room or someplace like that. She would say, The lilacs still in the front hall? And Id say, Oh, is that what that smell is? Its a big plaque on it, its landmarked and everything. Q: Yes. Q: Thank you for that story. John T Burke passed away on April 22, 2015 in Whiting, NJ and is under the care of. 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. I cant remember her name. Oh, thats right. And we had our barracks, of course, and having your barracks, the only thing you had was a big trunk where you kept all your clothes in. So, I dont know. And the only problem with that was the kitchen was downstairs. Q: Right. Im going to retire, Im going to go down to that big old house, restore it, fix it all up, move in it, and enjoy it. Because you never finish, youre always finding something to do. And we used to say, Wow, wonder who lives there? She was great because she would know. And then upstairs was like a big balcony above that porch. This old? But I dont remember seeing the main house. Thats annoying certain people. What was it, in the city? Burke: Oh, I forgot about that. 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? Burke: I knew that. Im joining the Air Force. So I went out and I joined the United States Air Force of course. Of course, I went to school here. Theres none of the spirits. And that was nothing but a little house that caught firewas just a little, little house. This the expensive piece of property! They sold it to the developers. And she used to drink all the whiskey like crazy. And if you can capture and keep something that looks like this, then this is a big plus for the area. And thats what this house is. Burke: I dont find any difference living here. But the old lady that lived there was very, very sick. I can get that. Because you could get it through theand once I got involved, I did really, really well. Ill do the whole window. Burke: Well, I hope it gets maintained. I lived in one room, for almost five years. I bought the house and Bess and Marge came over. And if they were there and I could see them, and I could ship them free because the government had to ship it for me, and I had my sisters, who would store them for meI had had a great opportunity to pick up all this stuff that was beautiful, get it for nothing, and the government ship it back for me, and my sisters would keep it until I got a place to put it. When they shipped me back from where I was, where the Eskimos were, they sent me back to the base, because they were shipping everybody now, backafter your time was up, you had to go back because you couldnt stay any longer than two years, and after two years, you had to come back to the States. Frank Tredici. Burke: It was. Daller: Then you got rid of thatbut those are the early days. It was unbelievably gorgeous. And I was the assistant to the general who was the surgeon for the European Command. It was so overgrown in the front yard and everything. George Burke is one of these dedicated keepers: He minds the Seguine Mansion, which he bought in 1981. Q: Yes. I just repainted. He also discusses the donation of the Seguine Mansion to the Historic House Trust, and his vision for the ongoing maintenance of the home and property. And then the people that moved out left a bunch of old furniture, and these were the two that they left. And the kitchen was outside. Burke: Oh, what I want to do isover that fireplace, I want to take that painting downand bring my painting and put it over that fireplace. What the hell is this? All of a sudden, she went, Youre in my house, and get out! Holy Christ. Oh, that was the ghost in Tottenville. And the White Party we do in order to take care of doing cleanup on the lawn, doing any kind of plantings, or anything, because he did it all the years. So I moved into the house here. And I saved quite a bit of money. Of course, nothings there. Burke: I think, what was left of it, the sons moved to California and they opened up a Scalamandr in California. Its empty. So my mother decided she would make it into a two-family, and rent out one part of it. They really dont know what history is all about. So it took a fortune, but I had it, all that money, to restore the house. When did it start to feel done? Thats what it is. And that was the Air Force. Q: And so when you were deciding what to collect, were you thinking about. So I paid it off and bought it in cash, with the cash. Staten Island . It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of the Historic House Trust. I think I got the two of them for five bucks or something like that. Burke: Well, when it came to really heavy construction, like this whole wall being rebuilt and things, I had to hire carpenters and I had to hire plasters to plaster the ceiling. He said he believes that whoever was in that other house, really didnt want people there. Daller: Well, its just the fact that the South Shore has gotten very built-up. My mother and his wife never got along too well. So coming back to it was a change. Daller: You met some interesting people there. I found three things like that. And I did, I got in St. George wasnt it? So I said, Well, I would have named it The Rossville Inn because it was in Rossville, but he will he loved Bermuda and he wanted Bermuda Inn. So I said, Yes, John, well call it the Old Bermuda Inn. Syosset. Email or phone: Password: . In good condition? Would you sell me the acres in the front? Now what are you going to do with this? So I couldnt take any of the clothes. And Ill see to it that, financially, things work out for the two of us. And, minute he bought the house, did a little work in it, put it right up for sale. Search Staten Island obituaries and condolences, hosted by Echovita.com. The oldwhat the hell was itgrocery store. That was a bigits still there. The Seguine girls, as they were called,. And, oh, nobefore then, when I had moved in, I had moved in, and the house had been empty for years. So I would go to the flea markets and things. I had a bulldozer two weeks, riding back-and-forth, and back-and-forth, and back-and-forth across the front of the house because you couldnt see the house from the water. Yes, he helped me with the colors, and this and that, and what I should getgood orientals for the floor, which I had but they werent these. And where to get the good buys, and all that kind of thing. Burke: I think that waswhod ya call-it got me involved with that. She lived up on Lighthouse Hill. Take a walk. I said, No, no, Im gonna save this house. He said, Oh! Because the other way, my uncle was digging into whatever a little bit of savings he had, in order to pay. But anyway, she said, Im not going in the house. And they added this big dining room to the other side of the house. , Ill move in to the other way, my uncle was into. 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