Justin Hafen and John Hurley are Sydney's dads — her father and his lifelong partner — and the design minds behind Hurley Hafen, creating some of Napa Valley's most thoughtfully built homes. They came to real estate the way the best ideas tend to arrive, unplanned. After opening and running nine restaurants together across the Bay Area, a single irresistible offer on their St. Helena home set them on a new path, and they never looked back. Today they create houses just up the road from Sydney, in the same wine-country town where she's raising her own family.
What makes their work special isn't square footage or finishes, it's the way they think about how a home is actually lived in. Their years in hospitality taught them to design for real life: quiet weekends for two, full tables on a holiday, the glamorous party and the granddaughter's bedtime story alike. It's the same philosophy that runs through everything Gntl, the belief that the things we surround ourselves with should make space for what matters most, never crowd it out. Justin and John build homes that live. We think that's a very Gntl way to build a life.
What does your go-to shower ritual look like?
I typically shower at the gym after my morning workout. I keep a bottle of Gntl soap in my locker and then lather on Gntl Skin Emulsion right after!
What’s the one product you swear by and why?
I finally found a sunscreen that I will use. Over the years, Sydney has given me many sunscreens to try in an effort to help save my aging skin, but they were always too thick, left a white film around my beard scruff, or burned my eyes so I never used them. Recently, she gave me this TOCOBO sunscreen, and it checks all of those boxes, so I actually wear sunscreen now!
Pull back the curtain for us... what moment or spark set you on the path to creating what you’re building now?
We kind of just fell into our current real estate development and design business. When we first met, we were in the restaurant business together and we opened and operated nine restaurants in the Bay Area. We lived most of the time in San Francisco or Piedmont, but always had a weekend house in the wine country.
One day, while we were on a business trip in New York, we got a random call from a real estate agent in Saint Helena. She said, "Don't hate me, but I knew you were out of town, so I just walked my clients around the outside of your home. They peeked in all of your windows, and even though they know it's not for sale, they will pay $1 million dollars over whatever you have into it if you will just take your clothes and personal photos out and leave everything else. We immediately looked at each other and said, "Why not?" We'll just build another house that's even better. It will be fun!"
So, we sold that house, built another great house, and then after living in it for several years, we received another offer we couldn't refuse. We sold that house and built yet another one. Then, after this same thing happened another time or two, we finally realized we were having more fun and making more money creating houses than we were in the restaurant business, so we sold all of our restaurants and shifted careers!
What’s something most people don’t see about the work that goes into your brand?
Because our first career together was in hospitality, we really understand how people want to live and entertain in a space. We were actually one of the first people in Napa Valley to put a scullery in a home, and now it has become kind of a "must have" for most luxury home buyers.
We really think through how people will live in a space, and try to make sure it functions well in many different scenarios: as a family living there full-time, as a couple just there alone for the weekends, for hosting small, intimate dinner parties and for hosting super large, glamorous events as well. We really believe in building homes that LIVE, and our unique hospitality experience helps us do that.
Tell us one Gntl thing you do for yourself.
Family. We have dinner together as a family several times a week. And at least once a week, we have a sleepover with our granddaughter. There is nothing more sweet or gntl than cuddling with her at bedtime, telling her (multiple!) stories and having her fall asleep on my arm.
