Job Burns (left) and Jennifer Toner (right) will take over the Mahogany Manor. (Image: Submitted)
Job Burns remembers the first time he visited Mahogany Manor. He was eight-years-old and was at the uptown Saint John bed and breakfast with his parents for a wedding.
“I was singing in the wedding and afterward, we came here for the reception and I sang on the stairs while the reception was going on,” Burns says. “I can still remember that night and just seeing the servers popping around and thinking, ‘oh my gosh, this place is so cool.’ ”
Today, after 18 years, Burns is taking over ownership of the Mahogany Manor.
Burns started working at the Mahogany Manor during the summers when he was 18. He helped prepare and serve during events and soon worked his way up to running the business when owners Carl Trickey and Jim Crooks went away. Knowing they were soon getting ready for retirement Burns, an entrepreneur already with his first business Busy Day Chefs, saw the opportunity two-and-a-half years ago to run another business he loves.
“We went out for dinner one night in June and I said, ‘well, guys the reason why I really keep coming back is I would like to take over your property someday’ and they said ‘Ok, let’s make it happen,’” says Burns.
“It was a really organic [process]. I don’t think that usually happens when someone is taking over a business, they have the opportunity to be in it for that long, with that much trust and mentorship. It really helped us this summer coming into things.”
Carl Trickey and his husband Jim Crooks owned the Mahogany Manor over the last 18 years. Like Burns, they were a part of the business long before they became owners.
“We bought the business from friends of ours. We were part of the process of them opening the bed & breakfast and Jim, my husband, became their original innkeeper,” says Trickey. “So even though we’ve owned it for 18 years, we’ve been involved with it since it opened in 1993.”
As Trickey, 61 and Crooks, 80, are getting ready to retire, it was important for them to find someone that was the right fit to take over the business. Burns’ passion and dedication to the business and his ability to connect with people made him a natural choice.
“[Burns] meets people where they’re at. When you have a bed and breakfast, that’s much more important than if you’re working in a hotel. You don’t really know these people,” says Trickey. “But when you’re in a bed & breakfast, these people are going to become a part of your life.”
With Burns at the helm, Trickey says he may be able to bring different guests to the manor who may not have considered staying there before.
“We were not particularly attractive to the age group that Job represents,” says Trickey. “Now, he can bring that foot forward and hopefully expand his business within that scope.”
That’s part of what Burns plans to do. With the help of his director of operations, Jennifer Toner, he plans to make some big changes to Mahagony Manor, starting with the building’s exterior.
The Mahogany Manor on Germain Street. (Image: Submitted)
“Colour-wise, we are going to go in a completely different direction. We’ve been working with the heritage board to just find out the logistics behind all of that,” says Toner. “We very recently decided on colours. We’re thinking for the actual bulk of the home we’re going to do a midnight blue with cream and sage green accents because, in order to fall within that heritage designation, you need at least a three-way colour pallet.”
The interior will also get some paint and upgrades, but Burns emphasizes they will still be honouring the building’s original heritage characteristics.
“I always tell people our motif is ‘heritage chic.’ Sticking with the heritage colour pallet throughout the home and not touching any of the original woodwork,” says Burns. “We’re so fortunate to have amazing gorgeous antiques throughout the entire property. We really want to focus on some modern amenities around them for our guests to enjoy.”
In terms of the business itself, Burns wants to make the Mahogany Manor a place for locals to enjoy too. This includes making it a popular place for small weddings and events, while also hosting some of their own own.
“Jen and I really hope to bring the Mahogany Manor back to locals. I’m so fortunate that we have this gorgeous space. We just want to share it with everyone in Saint John,” says Burns. “In our plan within the next year, we also hope to start a happy hour out on our back deck. We have a gorgeous English Garden back there with a gigantic deck. I know our guests love it, but we also hope we can bring that to Saint John has well.”
With Burns’ other business, Busy Day Chefs, already doing a lot of work out of the Manor’s kitchen, people can expect a variety of new food options as well.
“With the catering company being involved in the property so heavily, as well, and doing wedding pretty much every weekend, we have a varying variety of appetizers and entrees that are going out every weekend,” says Burns.
“It really creates a good opportunity to have a changing menu in a really unique space in uptown Saint John.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an online business news publication based in Saint John. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
