Erin and Ben Napier share an update after the spinoff hotel renovation is lost

The hotel project that was meant to anchor Erin and Ben Napier’s latest “Home Town” spinoff has been gutted by fire, but the couple is not walking away from the story they started. Instead, they are reframing the series, updating fans on the fate of the property and the people behind it, and insisting that the work they poured into the building will still be seen. Their message is clear: the original inn may be gone for now, yet the spirit of the show and the community it celebrates is very much alive.

In their update, Erin and Ben acknowledge the grief of losing a nearly finished renovation while also pointing toward what comes next for the series and for the hotel’s owners. The spinoff that was supposed to follow the transformation of a historic property into a boutique destination will no longer unfold as planned, but the couple is determined that the story of that transformation, and the friendships at the heart of it, will still reach viewers.

The promise of a new “Home Town” chapter

Before the fire, the hotel project represented a natural evolution of the Napiers’ small-town renovation universe. On their flagship HGTV series Home Town, Erin and Ben Napier have built a loyal audience by restoring houses and Main Street storefronts in Laurel, Mississippi, turning craftsmanship and community pride into appointment television. A hotel spinoff raised the stakes, expanding their canvas from single-family homes to a 30-room property that could welcome guests from around the country into the world they have been rebuilding on screen.

The new series centered on a historic inn called The Heirloom, a 30-room hotel that Erin and Ben were helping friends transform into a showpiece for their town. According to reporting on the project, the couple’s friends Mallorie and Jim Rasberry, along with another partner, were the ones who owned and were developing the property, and the Napiers’ role was to bring their design sensibility and storytelling to the renovation. The spinoff was framed as a celebration of that friendship and of the entrepreneurial energy that has grown around the couple’s work, with HGTV positioning it as the next big chapter for Erin and Ben.

A devastating fire and a halted dream

That chapter was abruptly interrupted when a fire tore through The Heirloom shortly after renovations were completed. Reports describe the blaze as a “devastating tragedy” that struck just a week after the work wrapped, destroying much of what Erin and Ben and their friends had spent months building. The timing turned what should have been a celebratory countdown to opening day into what Erin later likened to a mourning period, a sense that an entire dream for the town had been taken away almost overnight.

HGTV star Ben Napier has spoken about how the fire affected not only the show but also the people behind the hotel, emphasizing that The Heirloom was more than a set. It was a real business for Mallorie and Jim Rasberry and their partners, a 30-room investment in their community that was supposed to create jobs and draw visitors. The loss meant that the spinoff, which had been built around the hotel’s grand opening and early days, could not proceed in the way producers and owners had envisioned, because the central location of the story no longer existed in the same form.

Erin and Ben’s candid update to fans

In the wake of the fire, Erin and Ben Napier chose to address viewers directly, explaining that the hotel-focused series they had been filming would not air as originally planned. Erin has been frank that the show built around The Heirloom “isn’t going to be that hotel series,” acknowledging that the premise of following a fully realized inn had been overtaken by events. At the same time, she has stressed that the footage they captured and the relationships at the center of it still matter, and that the team is working out how to reshape the project so it can honor what was lost without turning the show into a spectacle of disaster.

In her update, Erin has said she does not yet know exactly where the story will go from here, but she has been clear about one thing: “But, man, I’m proud of them.” That pride is directed at Mallorie and Jim Rasberry and their partners, who have had to pivot from planning a ribbon-cutting to navigating insurance, rebuilding, and the emotional toll of seeing their work reduced to charred beams. The Napiers’ message to fans is that the people behind the hotel are resilient, and that whatever form the spinoff ultimately takes, it will reflect that resilience rather than simply replaying the moment of loss.

What happens to the footage and the spinoff now

For viewers who had been anticipating a full season inside The Heirloom, the obvious question is what happens to the episodes that were already filmed. Erin and Ben have indicated that the original concept of a straightforward hotel makeover show is off the table, but they have also suggested that audiences will still get to see the work that went into the property. Coverage of the project notes that the renovation was essentially complete when the fire hit, which means there is extensive footage of design decisions, construction milestones, and personal moments with the owners that could be re-edited into a different kind of narrative.

One report on the spinoff’s fate explains that the week after renovations wrapped, the fire destroyed the hotel that Ben and Erin had just finished designing for their friends, who own the property. That account, which details how the Home Town spinoff ended in tragedy, underscores why the couple is being careful about how they use the footage. Instead of airing a conventional before-and-after series that culminates in a grand opening that never happened, they are weighing how to present the renovation as part of a longer story about rebuilding, one that respects the owners’ experience and the community’s grief.

The hotel’s future and a different kind of visibility

Even as the original spinoff has been derailed, there are signs that The Heirloom’s story is not over. A social media update from the hotel’s account, highlighted in entertainment coverage, described a “positive post-fire” outlook, suggesting that the owners are committed to bringing the property back in some form. That message framed the fire not as an ending but as a brutal setback on the way to reopening, and it hinted that the design work Erin and Ben did for the hotel would continue to shape whatever comes next for the building and its role in the town.

Reporting on the hotel’s own channels notes that Erin and Ben Napier shared that update on a Monday, amplifying the owners’ optimism to their wider audience. The hotel’s message, which emphasized gratitude for support and a determination to move forward, dovetails with the Napiers’ own insistence that the project is not simply a television casualty. Instead, it is a real place with real stakes, and the visibility that comes from being associated with a national TV franchise could help sustain the owners through the long process of rebuilding.

Why the Napiers say viewers will still see the work

For fans, the most reassuring part of Erin and Ben’s update is their insistence that the renovation itself will not vanish into a vault. They have said that audiences will still get to see their work on the hotel that caught fire, even if the format and timing are different from what was first announced. That commitment reflects a belief that the story of The Heirloom is worth telling in full, not only because of the design details but also because of what the project has come to represent about risk, community, and perseverance.

Coverage of the couple’s comments notes that viewers “will get to see Ben, Erin Napier’s work on hotel that caught fire,” with the episodes expected to air later in 2026 in a reimagined form. That reporting, which frames the future broadcast as a way to honor the effort that went into the property, underscores how the Napiers are trying to balance sensitivity with transparency. By promising that the renovation will still be shown, they are signaling to fans and to their friends who own the hotel that the months of labor and creativity will not be reduced to a footnote. Instead, as one analysis of the situation puts it, audiences will eventually see Ben, Erin Napier’s work in a context that acknowledges both the beauty of what was created and the heartbreak of what was lost.

How the tragedy reshapes the “Home Town” universe

The loss of the hotel spinoff in its original form also forces a broader rethink of how the “Home Town” universe tells stories about small-town revitalization. Erin and Ben have built their brand on the idea that thoughtful design and local investment can change the trajectory of a place, and the fire at The Heirloom is a stark reminder that progress is not always linear. In their comments, they have leaned into that reality, treating the tragedy not as something to gloss over but as part of the fabric of life in the communities they feature, where setbacks and comebacks often sit side by side.

In one detailed account of their remarks, Today is described as feeling “like a funeral” for the project, a phrase that captures the emotional weight of seeing a nearly finished dream reduced to ashes. Yet in the same breath, Erin pivots to pride and to the future, echoing the sentiment that even if the series is no longer going to be that hotel-focused show, the people at the center of it are already writing the next chapter. Another report on their update, framed as Erin, Ben Napier Share Big Update on the spinoff after the fire, reinforces that duality: grief for what was lost, and a steady insistence that the work, the friendships, and the town itself are not defined by a single catastrophe.