HGTV’s Home Town stars share update after fire destroyed hotel they renovated
Erin and Ben Napier, the stars of HGTV’s Home Town, are opening up about what’s next after the hotel they renovated in Laurel, Mississippi, suffered severe fire and water damage.
The couple — who host the hit series where they restore historic homes — completed their extensive renovations on The Heirloom Hotel last year, with the help of their friends and the building’s owners, Josh and Emily Nowell, and Jim and Mallorie Rasberry. However, a fire broke out on the top floor due to an electrical issue in August 2025 and severely damaged the space, only days before its scheduled grand opening.
Since then, the group has said that they plan to rebuild the damaged space, but the timeline of the reconstruction process isn’t clear. However, during Sunday’s episode of The Heirloom Podcast — which is hosted by Jim and Josh — the six friends gave an update on what they have in mind.
“While we don’t know exactly what’s next, that doesn’t mean that we’re not thinking about it,” Jim said. “What this has given us, I think, is an opportunity to kind of dream about what’s next. So it’s not like something that’s not out there. We have a vision, and we have goals for our community, for ourselves, for our state. And we continue to want to make it better. So, I think some really cool things are down the pike.”
After Mallorie said that the team was “a lot better off than” they were 10 months ago with the new round of renovations, Erin chimed in: “God has a plan that none of us knows about, and that is the story of our whole life.”
Last month’s final episode of Ben and Erin’s spinoff series, Home Town: Inn This Together, documented the emotional aftermath of the fire, including the discovery that four of the hotel rooms were affected by water damage. The episode also showed firefighters rushing to extinguish the smoke coming out of the building, while Erin looked on in shock.
“To come as far as we have, and then to have something like this… It is devastating,” Ben said during a confessional interview in the episode, before his wife added: “It’s heartbreaking.”
After Ben said that the hotel meant a lot to the city, Erin continued: “For a small town, it’s extremely important. And it makes you think, we gotta figure it out. We just gotta figure it out. You gotta keep going.”
During The Heirloom Podcast, Erin recalled how the news of the fire put a damper on the 40th birthday party last year.
“Mallorie had volunteered to host my 40th birthday party. And I was like, ‘We are not having the party this weekend. That is not happening,’ And Mallorie said, ‘I need to be with all my people,’” she said. “So we had the party, and it was the saddest party in the world. All I wanted for my birthday was to eat dip. So, we ate dip and cried.”
