HGTV’s “Home Town: Inn This Together” has followed the hard work that Ben and Erin Napier and their friends and family have poured into creating The Heirloom Hotel in Laurel, Mississippi. In episode 4, fans get a look at the fire that broke out in 2025 and find out the extent of the damage. What’s next for The Heirloom Hotel and what is the opening date for guests?
‘Home Town: Inn This Together’ Episode 4 Recap Reveals Devastating Fire
In a May 29 blog post on the Laurel Mercantile website, Heirloom Hotel co-owner Josh Nowell shared a behind-the-scenes look at “Home Town: Inn This Together” episode 4.
“Episode 4 of ‘Inn This Together’ was full of surprises,” he began. “There is so much to celebrate in this final episode. We got the sign. We built beautiful rooms. We overcame floods. We reached milestones we had dreamed about for years. Most importantly, we learned that a group friends who stick together can accomplish about anything.”
Nowell continued, “But, I know for most folks, it’s hard to focus on anything besides the final minute. The final moment when two years of work was erased in a matter of hours.”
He shared the devastating feeling of all of their effort and time being wiped out. “Early mornings. Late nights. Wasted,” he shared. “Beautiful trim, millwork and moldings. Gone. Carefully chosen paint colors. Erased. New flooring and ceilings. Gone.”
Nowell continued, “Furniture destroyed. Artwork ruined. A dream came true. Almost. Now what? What do we do now? The truth is, we didn’t know what to do.”
“HGTV viewers are just finding out what locals and our closest supporters have known for 10 months,” he explained. “After two years of hard work, just as we crossed the finish line and wrapped filming of the television show, The Heirloom caught fire.”
What’s Next for The Heirloom Hotel? Is There an Opening Date?
As of May 2026, there is no opening date yet set for The Heirloom Hotel.
Nowell and co-owner Jim Rasberry spoke more about the fire during an episode of “The Heirloom Podcast” that was recorded 30 days after the blaze. “It was hard. The wind had been knocked out of us,” he wrote about their conversation. “We were still trying to understand what was next and how to find our balance. But, I am so glad we had each other and our Laurel community.”
He shared, “Since then, we’ve had much time to contemplate and to dream about what’s next. It’s still not easy, but we know that God has ordained this. Nothing about that day surprised Him. And while we do not understand all His purposes, we trust His providence.”
The plan is to overcome the setbacks and rebuild. “The fire took much from us, but it did not take our hope,” Nowell wrote. “It didn’t erase our determination to make our little home town shine brightly. By God’s grace, we will build again what we lost.”
“As a viewer, it’s easy to imagine that the last minute of ‘Inn this Together’ took everything from us. But, don’t worry. It didn’t,” he explained.
Nowell added, “We still have each other. We still have our framily, our friends, our coworkers and our community. And together, we will keep doing what we’ve been doing for these last twenty years: building to make our place better. You do the same. Keep building, friends.”
During the podcast, he shared the experience of arriving at the scene of the fire. “You are watching your lifetime work burn and that’s a very hard thing to see because there’s no certainty of what’s going to happen on the other side,” Nowell noted. “No matter what people believe, there’s no certainty of what’s going to happen next.”
“People ask, ‘What’s next?’ We’re not sure. We’re just going to keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing from the beginning. And that’s keep building … That was our early statement,” he added. “That’s what we are going to keep doing.”
