Mike Burner was a good guy that passed too soon. Mike was our builder in Westhampton that guided us through a 3-year process to rebuild the house that had belonged to my parents.
In many ways Mike was the consummate New Yorker. And, that is a good thing. My wife Susan and I grew up in New York, but we haven’t lived there in over 40 years. My parents had owned the house in Westhampton for over 45 years. When we were first considering the rebuild, Mike and his company Elderco, were recommended to us by multiple local contacts. In many ways Westhampton is a small town. Lots of things are connected. It turned out that Mike’s wife, Nancy Burner, has been my mom’s estate attorney for years. On the rebuild, Mike shepherded us through the process of deciding what we wanted and how to get it done. He was honest, experienced, practical, and straight forward, in ways that we had missed living away from New York.
Mike and his wife Nancy, my mom’s estate attorney
The story that explains my relationship with Mike best involved chimney brick. The old chimney was being torn down and a new chimney was to be rebuilt on the other side of the house. I asked Mike if he could save some of the old brick for some possible reuses. He gave me a look and told me if I wanted the brick, I had to save all of it. In hindsight he said it with a tone that gave me the inkling that maybe saving brick wasn’t a good idea. A few weeks later, I mentioned saving the brick to our landscaper Patrick, who is also my fifth cousin. Patrick, who is family, asked me: Are you stupid? Do you know what the cost of used brick is? Do you want to spend the next 2 summers cleaning used brick?
I called Mike back and told him that going forward, if I said something stupid, I would appreciate it, if he told me so. Mike said that he had a problem telling people who were paying him money that they were stupid. While the stupid word never came up again, there were multiple instances when Mike would call and walk me into a better direction.
9 Sea Breeze under construction. Note, the number of contractors in the yard
Simply put, when it comes to building a house on Long Island, Mike was an expert. He had seen it all. He had a great team at Elderco. He had a great set of contractors. The people that worked for him valued their relationship. He also did a good job of setting a direction for Elderco moving forward. His son Brian has been working with his dad on and off for years. The business is in good hands. When it comes to decisions moving forward, the whole team will think: What would Mike do? And, they won’t be saving valueless used brick.
Mike passed way too soon. He will be missed. He was a good guy
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