“Our kids are very energetic,” says Kevin, “and they need their own space to run around”. A resident innkeeper occupies an apartment on the premises. Kevin and Lorri live with their family offsite just a short distance away from the inn. We came upon Hennessey House while researching B&B’s in Napa and the rest is history.” “I always had this idea in the back of my head about owning a Bed and Breakfast someday”, says Kevin, “so as we were considering how to rebalance our current lifestyle, we talked it over and decided to look further. “We learned a lot about the kitchen from this experience.” “For years, we used to get together every Thursday with my parents and make gourmet dinners and desserts together,” recalls Lorri. Now I’ve got a beautiful ½ acre to play with at Hennessey House.” Cooking became a hobby as well. “I redesigned our entire yard at home,” says Lorri, “literally from the dirt up. Along the way, Lorri discovered a passion for the garden. “It became a passion I never cease sharing with our guests.” After college, Kevin slowly gravitated from engineering to marketing, and Lorri from scientific research to sales. “I was stunned that wine could be this good”, recalls Kevin. “No, neither of these disciplines is a prerequisite for running an inn”, laughs Kevin, “but life is a journey and it is amazing where you can end up.” Lorri introduced Kevin to wine, a bottle of Gemelo 1982 Cabernet on a brisk, sunny day at the ocean. They met at UC Davis, where Kevin was studying Physics and Lorri Physiology. Kevin and Lorri both grew up in the Bay Area, Kevin in San Francisco and Lorri in Palo Alto.

One of the questions Kevin and Lorri are often asked is, How did you end up owning a Bed and Breakfast? “It’s a great question”, says Kevin, since it gives us an opportunity to share a little about ourselves”. “At the time, we knew nothing about running a hospitality business, but we fell in love with the place and the idea of being innkeepers in Napa. They made the leap to Napa in the summer of 2004 and purchased Hennessey House.

The innkeepers