“Home Town” spinoff hotel burns before opening, and Ben and Erin Napier respond
The hotel at the center of HGTV’s new “Home Town” spinoff was supposed to open its doors as a love letter to Laurel, Mississippi, not go up in flames before welcoming a single guest. Instead, a fire ripped through the newly restored property just after renovations wrapped, turning a feel-good TV project into a test of resolve for Ben and Erin Napier and their tight-knit community. In the aftermath, the couple’s response has been as revealing as the tragedy itself, showing how they balance heartbreak, responsibility, and the expectations of millions of viewers.
What unfolded in Laurel is more than a behind-the-scenes mishap on a home renovation show. It is a story about how a small-town revitalization effort, a group of longtime friends, and a carefully crafted television spinoff collided with disaster, and how the people at the center of it are choosing to move forward.
The dream behind the “Home Town” hotel
Before the fire, the hotel project was framed as the next logical step in the “Home Town” universe, a way to turn the show’s affection for Laurel into a place fans could actually stay. Erin and Ben Napier of HGTV Home Town had poured their energy into transforming a historic property in downtown Laurel into the Heirloom Hotel, a boutique space meant to reflect the same Southern warmth and craftsmanship that made their series a hit. The building sits in the heart of Laurel’s business district, a short walk from the shops and streets that viewers recognize from the show and that are pinpointed on maps of the Laurel historic core.
The hotel was also designed as a showcase for the couple’s broader vision of small-town renewal, not just a TV set dressed up as a hospitality venture. Erin and Ben Napier of HGTV Home Town had already helped revive dozens of houses and storefronts on camera, and this project extended that mission into a full-scale lodging experience that would anchor tourism and economic activity in Laurel. Their best friends, Jim and Mallorie Rasberry and Joshua Nowell, were deeply involved as co-owners and collaborators, turning the Heirloom Hotel into a shared investment in the town’s future rather than a vanity project for television.
How the fire upended a finished renovation
That shared dream was jolted when a fire broke out at the Heirloom Hotel early one morning, only a week after the renovation work had been completed. The blaze tore through the building before it ever hosted a paying guest, leaving charred walls and a gutted interior where fresh paint and carefully chosen finishes had just been installed. Local reporting on the current project of Erin and Ben Napier of HGTV Home Town described how the fire, which occurred early in the morning in Laurel, forced firefighters to battle heavy smoke as they tried to save the structure.
For the Napiers, the timing made the loss especially brutal. Unfortunately, the week after renovations were completed, Erin revealed on Instagram that the hotel caught on fire, before it had even opened to the public, wiping out months of design decisions and construction work in a single event. Coverage of how HGTV’s Home Town spinoff ended in tragedy underscored that to finish the process and then have a fire eliminate all that hard work would be understandably “devastating” for anyone who had invested in the project, and that sense of shock is part of what now defines the story of the spinoff that ended in tragedy.
Erin Napier’s first public response
In the hours after the fire, Erin Napier did what she often does in moments of personal and community upheaval: she turned to her social media audience to explain what had happened and to process the loss in real time. Erin Napier shared that the newly restored Heirloom Hotel in her Mississippi hometown had suffered a devastating fire, describing it as a blow not only to her family and business partners but to the Laurel community and Home Town fans who had been eagerly awaiting the opening. Her account of the devastating loss in her Mississippi hometown made clear that the damage extended beyond bricks and mortar.
Erin Napier Speaks Out After Devastating Fire Puts New HGTV Show in Peril captured how she used Instagram to share a photo showing smoke billowing from the building’s roof as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames. Just a week after Erin Napier and her husband had celebrated the completion of the renovation, she posted that image along with a message that balanced grief with gratitude for the first responders who rushed to the scene. In that post, Erin took to her Instagram account to show the scale of the damage and to thank those who worked to extinguish the flames, a moment that was later summarized in coverage titled Erin Napier Speaks Out After Devastating Fire Puts New HGTV Show.
Uncertainty for the spinoff and its stars
As images of the burned hotel circulated, the obvious question for fans was what the disaster meant for the “Home Town” spinoff that had been built around the property. Erin did not sugarcoat her uncertainty. In one candid update, she admitted, “I don’t know what will happen next or if you’ll ever get to see this @hgtv show now. I don’t know much of anything,” a line that captured both her exhaustion and her refusal to make promises she could not keep. That admission came as she reminded followers that “Our best friends Jim and Mallorie Rasberry and Joshua Nowell have been working on this hotel for years and it was finally coming soon,” a sentiment reflected in coverage of how Ben & Erin Napier’s fans got an update after the devastating fire.
That level of openness is part of why the Napiers have built such a loyal following, but it also underscored how fragile television projects can be when they are tethered to real-world businesses. The spinoff was not just another show on the side, it was a narrative built around a functioning hotel that now needed extensive repairs before it could host guests or cameras again. In the immediate aftermath, Erin’s message was less about salvaging a series and more about acknowledging that she and Ben were reeling alongside their friends, even as they tried to reassure viewers that they would keep the community’s needs at the center of whatever came next.
From devastation to determination
As the smoke cleared, the tone from Laurel shifted from shock to resolve. Erin Napier Speaks Out After Devastating Fire Puts New HGTV Show in Peril noted that she framed the fire as a setback the town would face together, not a solitary loss for a television couple. She included a photo showing smoke billowing from the building’s roof as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames, then wrote about how the people of Laurel had weathered hardship before and would again, signaling that the Heirloom Hotel would not be abandoned. In that message, she emphasized that the streets, the neighbors, and the shared history mattered more than any single project, even one as high profile as a new HGTV series, a sentiment echoed in coverage of how Erin Napier spoke out after the devastating fire put the new HGTV show in peril.
Behind the scenes, the owners were already talking about rebuilding. Their friends, Mallorie and Jim Rasberry and Joshua Nowell, who had invested years into the hotel, were not ready to walk away from the property or the story it represented. Later reporting on how the HGTV couple lands spinoff series after “devastating” tragedy described how the popular HGTV couple, Erin and Ben Napier, continued to stand behind their partners, with Erin publicly saying of the team, “I’m proud of them,” as they committed to a second attempt at bringing the hotel to life. That coverage of how the HGTV couple lands spinoff series after “devastating” tragedy made clear that determination, not defeat, would define the next chapter.
What happens to the show now
Once the immediate crisis passed, attention turned to the fate of the “Home Town” spinoff itself. HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier have revealed that their highly anticipated “Home Town” spinoff series will still move forward, even after the devastating fire tore through the hotel at the center of the show. In an update described by Kelsi Karruli, they explained that viewers would still get to see the renovation work that had been completed before the fire, and that the series would incorporate the aftermath rather than pretend it never happened. That decision, outlined in coverage of how HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier updated fans on the fate of the spinoff, reflects a willingness to let viewers see the messy reality behind a polished reveal.
That approach is consistent with later reporting that audiences will still get to see Ben and Erin Napier’s work on the hotel that caught fire, with the series expected to air later in 2026. Coverage of that plan noted that the episodes would showcase the design and construction that went into the Heirloom Hotel before the blaze, preserving the creative effort even as the physical space undergoes repairs. The same reporting, which framed the update under a banner that included “Facebook Tweet Pin Email” and referenced a November appearance by the couple in Nashville, explained that the show is now slated to air “later” in 2026, giving the production team time to shape a narrative that honors both the project and the people affected. That timeline was laid out in a piece headlined that we will get to see Ben, Erin Napier’s work on the hotel that caught fire.
The investigation and “round two”
While fans waited for clarity on the show, investigators worked to determine what had caused the blaze. The cause of the hotel fire was ultimately identified and it was ruled accidental, a finding that removed the specter of foul play and allowed the owners to focus on rebuilding rather than litigation or blame. That conclusion was shared alongside a hopeful update from the hotel’s own social media presence, which posted a selfie of Jim and Mallorie Rasberry with the caption “Round two,” signaling that they were already thinking about the next phase of construction. The post, shared on a Tuesday and tied to the hotel’s official Instagram account, was described in coverage that noted how Erin & Ben Napier’s hotel from the new HGTV show shared a positive post about “Round two.”
That phrase, simple as it is, captures the ethos that has guided the Napiers’ work in Laurel from the beginning. The Heirloom Hotel is not just a set piece for a spinoff, it is a real business that will employ local residents, draw visitors to downtown, and stand as a physical symbol of the town’s resilience. By embracing “Round two” so publicly, Jim and Mallorie Rasberry and Joshua Nowell signaled that they see the fire as a chapter, not the ending, and that they are willing to let cameras document the rebuild as part of the ongoing story of “Home Town.”
Why this loss hit differently for Laurel and HGTV
For Laurel, the hotel fire was not just a setback for a television production but a blow to a broader strategy of using design and storytelling to revive a once-struggling downtown. HGTV’s Erin Napier Shares Devastating Loss in Her Mississippi Hometown made clear that the Heirloom Hotel was meant to be a cornerstone of that effort, a place where visitors could stay overnight instead of simply passing through for a day trip. By tying the project so closely to her identity as a hometown advocate, Erin Napier underscored how much was at stake for local businesses, from restaurants to retail shops, that had been counting on the foot traffic a boutique hotel would bring. That framing, captured in the piece titled Erin Napier Shares Devastating Loss in Her Mississippi Hometown, helps explain why the fire resonated so widely.
For HGTV, the incident also highlighted the risks of building entire series around real-world enterprises that can be derailed by events no producer can control. To finish the process and then have a fire eliminate all that hard work would be understandably “devastating” for any homeowner or business owner, but when the property is the centerpiece of a national television show, the stakes are even higher. Reporting on how HGTV’s Home Town spinoff ended in tragedy noted that the network and the Napiers had to decide whether to shelve the project or lean into the reality of what happened, and they chose the latter, allowing viewers to see the end result of the renovation even if the building itself had to be rebuilt. That perspective was laid out in coverage explaining that HGTV’s Home Town spinoff ended in tragedy but that audiences would still get to see the work.
How Ben and Erin Napier are reframing the tragedy
In the months since the fire, Ben and Erin Napier have begun to talk about the experience not just as a loss but as part of the narrative arc of their careers. Popular HGTV couple, Erin and Ben Napier, have been described as landing a spinoff series after the “devastating” tragedy, a framing that suggests the network sees value in documenting how they and their friends respond to adversity. Their willingness to share the emotional toll, from Erin’s early admission that she did not know what would happen next to her later pride in how Mallorie and Jim Rasberry and Joshua Nowell handled “Round two,” has turned the Heirloom Hotel into a symbol of perseverance as much as design. That evolution is reflected in the reporting that the HGTV couple lands spinoff series after “devastating” tragedy.
For viewers, the eventual series will offer something rare in the world of glossy renovation television: a project that does not end with a perfect reveal and a tidy bow, but with an honest account of what happens when real life intervenes. By choosing to air the episodes and to rebuild the hotel, Ben and Erin Napier are effectively inviting their audience to sit with the discomfort of loss and the slow work of starting over, rather than skipping ahead to the next pretty project. In doing so, they are reinforcing the core message that has always underpinned “Home Town,” that revitalizing a place is not a one-time transformation but an ongoing commitment, one that can survive even when a long-awaited hotel burns before it ever opens its doors.
