For the Love of the Build
De Mattei Construction Mixes Diversification & Inspiration
From a young age, Mark De Mattei loved working with his hands. As a teenager, he had the good fortune to live next door to a contractor with considerable carpentry experience and a willingness to teach—and from that relationship a career was born.
In construction, De Mattei had found what would be his life’s work. By 1985, the then 23-year-old founded De Mattei Construction with just a truck, some tools and a passion for building more than just houses, but homes with exquisite purpose. Now, 33 years later, his company is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier custom home building and remodeling firms with more than 2,000 custom homes and commercial builds to its name.
Looking back, it’s not the annual revenue that gives the firm’s founder the most satisfaction—it’s the people. De Mattei is incredibly proud of the work his company does every day and especially of his team of like-minded individuals, each one equally inspired by the love of the build.
Trusted Relationships
In the early days of 1985, De Mattei quickly found work for his newly launched business, but in humbleness shares that he had a lot of help from friends and colleagues.
He points to Thomas McEnery, then the mayor of San Jose, as one who gave him a chance. One of his first jobs involved retrofitting the multistory Paul Masson Building (Masson-LeFranc building) on Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose. McEnery owned the historic brick Art Deco building, first constructed in 1883, and the masonry structure needed considerable repair and renovation. The Paul Masson project proved a major turning point in De Mattei’s career, leading to additional work opportunities that gave De Mattei the ability to cultivate relationships with a variety of industry professionals, from engineers and architects to suppliers.
This also enabled him to continue building his crew with help from trusted subcontractors. In its first decade of business, De Mattei Construction expanded to around 20 employees and approximately $6 million in annual revenue…as well as a growing backlog of commercial and residential work.
Building Partners
By the late 1990s, De Mattei knew he needed some additional help managing the company. He looked to his good friend John Hinton for guidance.
Hinton, a Stanford alum with an MBA and 20 years of experience in construction, knew the industry through his work at companies like Bechtel, where he worked as a deputy project manager for eight years. Better yet, he was ready for a change.
“I was ready to get back into construction where I’d worked in my early career,” says Hinton. “I knew Mark’s company was the right place for me. He’s hardworking, knew what he was doing and, unlike many, he knew what he didn’t know. I’m a back-office business guy with lots of experience on the financial side. I thought I could contribute.”
De Mattei—who greatly respected his friend’s insight and expertise—hired Hinton as his CFO. With Hinton’s help, De Mattei put together a business plan to keep the company on pace for growth while giving him the time to do what he loved: build. In 2000, they recruited Bill Rose, a local lawyer who loved construction, as Executive Vice President to handle business development. Rose operated his own high-end residential construction company for 15 years before he joined De Mattei Construction. Next, in 2004, De Mattei hired Mark Januario, who also grew up in the construction industry. After graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Januario found his way to De Mattei Construction.
Januario recalls, “I bought my first home a mile away from Mark’s office. He was working on a nearby project and coincidentally I saw a job posting for an estimator’s assistant. At the time, I was working in corporate America, and really wanted to get back to working as part of a community.” Today, Januario is the company’s Vice President, in charge of estimating.
Thriving on Diversification
Since founding the company, De Mattei and his team have survived and thrived even in difficult economic conditions. They’ve built traditional and contemporary homes, renovated historic buildings and boutique shops, performed seismic retrofits, constructed restaurants and office buildings, and completed tenant improvements throughout the central coast.
“I’m fortunate in that we built a strong reputation in commercial and residential construction from the early days,” says De Mattei. “When the commercial side of the business was lean, we focused on residential work. We did tighten our belts during the recession, but I learned again the importance of diversification. That’s why we still do projects of all scopes and scales, from very small remodel jobs to 40,000-square-foot builds, to custom homes and restaurants to offices.”
Januario adds, “We’ve always been busy—mostly because Mark’s not afraid of anything. He’s always willing to take on any sort of project, which means more challenge and a chance to expand our knowledge base. That’s what I like. Every project is different. Our team is great and the opportunity for growth has been exceptional.”
Great Leadership Attracts Loyalty
De Mattei is the kind of leader who inspires loyalty, as is evidenced by the staff’s longevity with the company. Of the 70 or so employees that now work for the company, more than one-third have been there for 30 years. One of his first employees was John Buczeke, a carpenter and former lumber yard driver who delivered supplies to the Masson Building project. He came to work for De Mattei within a few months of the company’s founding and still works for him today.
Hinton believes De Mattei’s ability to inspire loyalty is part of the “Mark Magic.” He adds, “Mark has a presence about him. Everyone who meets him likes him, and after a brief conversation, they want to either work for him or hire him. That’s largely because of his sincerity, skill and worth ethic. He goes out of his way to show his appreciation for employees and his clients. He has that magic. Even now, when contractors are struggling to find good talent, Mark can get them because he has all the attributes of a quality employer.”
Hinton retired in 2017 and Stan Prolo took over as CFO. Prolo has been with the company since 2006, when he started as De Mattei’s business manager. As well, De Mattei’s three sons work for the company—two part time while going to college and the eldest full time.
When asked what gives him the most professional satisfaction beyond the 30 years of success, De Mattei says it’s the relationships. He concludes, “Construction is my hobby, my work and my passion. It’s inspiring to see that we’re now building homes for the children of clients that we built for 30 years ago. The work speaks for itself. For me, job satisfaction is not measured by the size of the project. Rather, it’s the quality of our work and our ability to give reality to someone’s vision that defines success.”
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