The “Home Town” hotel project: what happens after the fire

The fire that tore through the future “Home Town” hotel in downtown Laurel did more than char brick and timber. It singed a carefully built narrative about small town renewal, television fame, and the fragile line between dream and disaster. In the months since, the people behind the project have been forced to decide what survives, what changes, and what the rest of us will actually see when the cameras roll again.

I want to look past the viral images of smoke and ash to the harder, slower story that followed: how the owners, Erin and Ben Napier, and the Laurel community have tried to salvage a 30-room landmark, a television spinoff, and a vision of hospitality that was supposed to anchor a revitalized downtown.

The dream behind the Heirloom

Long before the fire, the hotel that would become The Heirloom was meant to be a physical extension of the “Home Town” ethos, a place where viewers could step into the world they had only seen on screen. The property sits in the heart of Laurel, Mississippi, a downtown that fans already treat as a kind of open-air set, from the restored storefronts to the now-famous Scotsman General Store. The hotel’s location, documented in public listings for the Laurel lodging project, was chosen to knit that tourism energy directly into the city’s historic core rather than push visitors to the highway.

For Erin and Ben Napier of HGTV Home Town, the hotel was also a creative leap. Reporting on the project describes it as a current centerpiece for the couple in Laurel, a 30-room property that would give fans a place to stay, celebrate, and, in some cases, even host weddings once the restoration was complete. Coverage of the buildout notes that the Napiers were treating the Heirloom as a signature project in their hometown, with the renovation designed to showcase the same mix of craftsmanship and nostalgia that defines their television work in Laurel.

The night the future hotel burned

That vision collided with reality when fire broke out at the unfinished hotel earlier this year, turning a construction site into a scene of flashing lights and thick smoke. The blaze started in the early morning hours, when crews were away and the building was still in the middle of its transformation from aging structure to boutique destination. Accounts from the scene describe flames visible from blocks away and a response that quickly drew multiple agencies into downtown.

Units from the Laurel and Ellisville Fire Departments were dispatched to the future Heirloom, and investigators later ruled the blaze accidental after examining the damage and the building’s systems. Laurel Fire Chief Leo Bro publicly confirmed that assessment, and officials credited the coordinated work of the Laurel and Ellisville Fire Departments with preventing an even larger catastrophe in the dense downtown district.

Grief, perspective, and a public plea

In the immediate aftermath, the most striking response did not come from a press conference but from Erin Napier’s own words. She framed the loss not as a tally of materials but as a wound to the people who had poured themselves into the project, writing that “it’s not about the loss of wood, brick, or paint” and instead about the grief for the “countless hands” that had worked on the building. That sentiment, shared widely among fans, underscored how much emotional capital had been invested in the hotel long before any guest checked in.

Her message also carried a request. Erin asked for prayers for the friends whose “dream” hotel had been damaged, reminding followers that the project was bigger than a television storyline and that the owners and crew were facing a deeply personal setback. Coverage of her comments notes that she and Ben had been celebrating the hotel’s progress only days earlier, when HGTV highlighted the upcoming series and the plan for 30 rooms, several of which would be suites, before the fire disrupted that momentum in late Aug.

Assessing the damage and deciding to rebuild

Once the smoke cleared, the question shifted from “what happened” to “what now.” Structural assessments showed that while the fire had ravaged parts of the building, the bones of the 30-room property were still there, and the owners faced a choice between scaling back, starting over, or walking away. For a project already tied to a television schedule and a national audience, the stakes were higher than a typical commercial renovation, and every decision would ripple through Laurel’s tourism economy.

Public updates from the team behind the hotel made clear that retreat was not the plan. The Heirloom, described in later coverage as a 30-room property in Mississippi that had been “ravaged in the wake of its restoration,” became a test of resolve rather than a casualty. Reporting on the owners’ deliberations notes that, despite the devastation, they committed to moving forward with the restoration and to honoring the original vision for the The Heirloom as a full-service hotel and event space.

“Round two” and the work of rebuilding

Rebuilding a fire-damaged hotel is not glamorous work, even when cameras are nearby. It involves demolition, engineering reports, insurance negotiations, and the slow, repetitive labor of putting a structure back together. The team behind the Heirloom signaled that they were ready for that grind with a simple phrase: “Round two.” That caption appeared on the hotel’s official Instagram page alongside a selfie of Jim and Mallorie Ra, the local couple at the center of the project, taken on a Tuesday as they stood in front of the damaged building and prepared to start again.

The post, which also reassured followers that no one was inside at the time of the fire, became a shorthand for the second act of the project. It told fans that the dream was not dead, only delayed, and that the people most directly affected were choosing to reengage rather than retreat. Coverage of that moment highlighted how the “Round two” message on Instagram helped reset the narrative from tragedy to determination, even as the physical work of reconstruction was just beginning.

Behind the scenes: crews, cameras, and a spinoff in limbo

While contractors and engineers focused on the building, another team had its own crisis to manage: the television production built around the hotel. The Heirloom was not just a business venture, it was the anchor for a “Home Town” spinoff that had already filmed extensive material before the fire. Suddenly, producers had to decide whether to scrap episodes, reframe the series around the disaster, or press ahead with a story that now had an unexpected, and painful, twist.

Updates from the people working behind the camera suggested that the project would not be shelved. A detailed account of the crew’s response described how the team behind the HOME TOWN hotel spin-off used social media to update fans following the fire, explaining that the Heirloom Hotel had suffered significant damage but that the spinoff itself was still moving forward. That message, framed as the Crew Behind HOME TOWN Hotel Spin offering an “Off Update Fans Following Fire,” helped stabilize expectations for viewers who had been following the project from afar.

Progress reports from the job site

As the months passed, the most tangible signs of progress came not from press releases but from short videos and photos shared by the people doing the work. One key update arrived when Josh, a builder closely involved with the project, posted a video on his HeirloomBuilder Instagram page on a Saturday in late September. In that clip, he walked viewers through the site, showing that he and the crew were back on location, clearing debris, reframing damaged sections, and methodically pushing the hotel toward a second life.

That same period brought additional reassurance from the Napiers themselves, who used their own platforms to echo what fans were seeing in Josh’s footage. Coverage of those posts notes that the couple shared the builder’s video in their Instagram Stories and emphasized that work was actively underway again at the Laurel site. The report on that September update, which highlighted how On Saturday Josh used Instagram to show the crew back in action, captured the mix of relief and realism that defined this phase: the hotel was not finished, but it was no longer frozen in the moment of the fire.

Will viewers still see the hotel on TV?

For fans of “Home Town,” one of the most pressing questions was whether the work that had already gone into the Heirloom would ever make it to air. The answer, after some understandable uncertainty, has been yes. Ben Napier has confirmed that the renovation will still be broadcast, turning the hotel’s story into a season-long arc that includes both the original design work and the painful detour caused by the fire. That decision respects the effort of everyone involved and acknowledges that the disaster is now part of the project’s truth, not an off-camera inconvenience.

Reporting on the spinoff’s future notes that viewers will get to see Ben and Erin Napier’s work on the hotel that caught fire, with episodes expected to air later in 2026 so audiences can follow the full journey from concept to completion. One detailed account framed it plainly: We Will Get to See Ben and Erin Napier’s Work on the Hotel That Caught Fire, a promise that effectively turns the series into both a design show and a chronicle of recovery.

Balancing heartbreak and momentum for the Napiers

For Erin and Ben Napier, the Heirloom fire has been both a personal blow and a professional inflection point. They have had to grieve a project they called their “baby” while also keeping a broader slate of work on track, from ongoing “Home Town” episodes to the new hotel-focused spinoff. That balancing act has required them to be transparent about their disappointment without letting the tragedy define their public identity or their relationship with Laurel.

Recent coverage of their trajectory describes them as a popular HGTV couple who have nonetheless pushed ahead with the spinoff series after the devastating setback. One report notes that the pair have confirmed the hotel-focused show will continue despite the fire, underscoring that the series is still a priority for Popular HGTV personalities Erin and Ben Napier and that they remain committed to telling the full story of the project rather than editing out its hardest chapter.

What the spinoff’s survival says about the franchise

The decision to move forward with the hotel series is not just a programming note, it is a statement about what “Home Town” has become. A franchise that started with single-family renovations in Laurel is now robust enough to absorb a major setback and still deliver a new show built around a single property. That resilience reflects both the depth of the Napiers’ fan base and the network’s confidence that viewers will stay engaged even when the story veers into uncomfortable territory.

Detailed reporting on the spinoff’s rollout explains that Ben has publicly confirmed the episodes are going to air, with the new series scheduled to debut on January 4 on HGTV. One account, framed around the couple’s status as fan favorites, notes that Now Ben has reassured viewers that the episodes will be broadcast as planned, turning what could have been a lost season into a more complex, and arguably more honest, chapter in the “Home Town” universe.

Fans, expectations, and the emotional stakes

All of this has unfolded under the watchful eye of a fan community that treats the Napiers’ projects as something closer to shared civic ventures than passive entertainment. Viewers who had already booked trips to Laurel or dreamed of staying at the Heirloom have had to recalibrate their expectations, shifting from anticipation to concern and then to cautious optimism as updates trickled out. The emotional stakes are unusually high for a hospitality project, because the hotel is not just a place to sleep, it is a physical manifestation of a television narrative that people feel they own a piece of.

Coverage of the fan response captures that intensity. One report describes how Ben and Erin Napier, widely regarded as HGTV fan favorites, have had to explain the fate of the “Home Town” spinoff following the hotel fire, with Erin referring to the project as their “baby” and acknowledging how deeply they felt the loss. That same account notes that the couple’s reassurance about the show’s future helped steady a community of viewers who had been anxiously awaiting news, with Melissa Roberto documenting how their candor turned a potential PR crisis into a moment of shared vulnerability.

What comes next for Laurel and the Heirloom

Looking ahead, the Heirloom’s path is both clearer and more complicated than it was before the fire. On one hand, the commitment to rebuild, the steady progress on site, and the confirmed television schedule all point toward an eventual opening that will likely draw even more attention than the original plan. On the other, the project now carries the weight of a public trauma, and every guest who checks in will be walking into a building whose story includes both craftsmanship and catastrophe.

For Laurel, the stakes remain local as well as national. The hotel is poised to anchor tourism, provide jobs, and deepen the city’s identity as a destination for fans of “Home Town” and small town revitalization. The fact that the project has survived a major fire, kept its spinoff alive, and maintained the backing of Erin and Ben Napier suggests that the core idea behind the “Home Town” hotel project is intact: that a historic building in a Mississippi downtown can be both a set and a sanctuary, even after the worst night in its long history.