On the newest episode of “Home Town,” premiering on March 1, 2026, longtime fans of HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier may recognize the episode’s featured couple. During the show’s fifth season in 2021, Ben’s younger brother Jesse and his wife, Lauren, appeared on the show as their cottage was transformed.
Five years later, though, the couple has already outgrown their sweet little home in Laurel, Mississippi. They’re leaning on Erin and Ben again, and both couples have revealed ahead of the show what went down behind the scenes.
Erin & Ben Napier Explain Why They’re Already Renovating Another Home for His Brother
In June 2025, Erin and Ben first spoke about renovating a new home for Jesse and Lauren — who own Napier Frames in Laurel — when they appeared on Annie F. Down’s “That Sounds Fun” podcast. They were in the thick of working on the home at the time and Erin hilariously blurted out that it was a “terrible house.”
Explaining the history to Downs, Ben shared that Jesse and Lauren were newlyweds when they bought the house. As renovations began, they learned Lauren was expecting their first child. Baby Nell was born in June 2021, just two months after their home was featured on “Home Town.”
“It was this cute little newlywed cottage,” Ben told Down on her podcast. “Their baby comes along, they immediately get pregnant again. He comes along, they immediately got pregnant again!”
“So now they own that house, this cute little newlywed cottage, that’s right smack back down in the historic district (of Laurel),” Ben continued. “Suddenly, you know, being right in the middle of everything is a little bit stressful for a young mother and, you know, being (in) such tight quarters is a little bit nerve-wracking when you’ve got a stay-at-home mom who cooks every meal at home.”
Erin Napier Says Jesse & Lauren’s New House Was ‘Worse in Every Way’ Than Their First
While Lauren was expecting their fourth child, Ben told Downs on her podcast, she and Jesse “bought a house that’s out in the county, and we’re working on it.”
“It’s totally different in every way,” Erin interjected. “It looks nothing like the old house. It’s bigger.” She then laughed, “It’s just worse in every way. It’s a terrible house.”
Hours before the episode premiered, Erin posted several photos from their adventures renovating the new home, writing that “one night at Ben’s parents Lauren said the smell of a hamburger made her feel sick as she ate a pan of cornbread and I KNEW they were about to outgrow that house 😄”
Jesse and Lauren, meanwhile, shared a bit of their journey in their frame store’s Instagram Stories, revealing that Erin’s parents “graciously let us live with them while we worked on renovations,” including cutting and burning “3 acres of bamboo” on their new property.
What Happened to the Home Erin & Ben Napier Initially Remodeled For His Brother’s Family?
Jesse and Lauren put their three-bedroom, forest-green cottage on the market in January 2025 for $275,000, Erin wrote in her Instagram Stories at the time. She lamented, “there is some bittersweet news. one of our favorite houses we had the joy of renovating is on the market.”
Ben also shared the listing, writing, “There has been a lot of living done in the last 4 years in that green cottage. Christmases, family get togethers, new babies, last minute meals. I’ve had almost as many cups of coffee in their kitchen with my mom as I have in my own kitchen.”
A month later, Jesse and Lauren decreased the price to $260,000 on Valentine’s Day, according to Realtor.com, and the house appears to have sold in early March 2025.
Erin and Ben’s daughters are still young — Helen just turned eight, and Mae is four — as are Jesse and Lauren’s kids. Downs asked the couple if they hope that their efforts to revitalize Laurel are reason enough for the kids to settle down there when they have their own families.
“That’s the whole point of hometown,” Erin smiled. “Not that HGTV is aware of that!”
Ben teased, “We’ve tricked HGTV into helping us keep our children here,” and Erin continued, “We just want them to think Laurel’s cool. We want them to come home. I want them to go see the world, but I want them to come home.”
The new episode of “Home Town,” featuring Jesse and Lauren’s new house, will premiere on March 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
