If you're not watching the home renovation show Home Town, you're missing out. Home Town follows
married couple Ben and Erin Napier as they help create the perfect homes for their fellow
residents of Laurel, Mississippi. Here are some things you may not know about HGTV's hit show.
Ben and Erin's love story started in college.
According to E!, Erin was aware of Ben before he noticed her. She explained,
"He was the guy on campus that everyone knew, and I just wanted to be his friend."
And as for Ben, it was love at first sight. He admitted,
"The first time I met Erin was in the cafeteria at Jones County Community College.
I was talking to a group of girls and they said, 'Wow, I love that girl's style.'
I turned around and Erin had this really short pixie cut and she was wearing these
loose-fitting jeans and it was like, oh man, she was so cool. From that moment on I was hooked."
They were both on the yearbook team together, and the rest is history. Ben went on to say,
"It took six days. I hugged her for the first time on a Tuesday,
at the yearbook meeting, and we spent every minute that we could together for the next
six days. Then I told her that I loved her and that I was going to marry her one day."
The success of Home Town came about in the perfect 21st century way — via
Instagram. According to E!, the couple and their home were featured in a magazine,
and the photo of their house found its way onto social media. Erin said,
"An executive of development at HGTV saw the photo, and we ended up connecting. She reached
out and asked if we'd ever thought about doing TV; she'd been stalking our Instagram
for a while and was like, 'I'm in love with your town, with your relationship and I just
wonder if you'd ever thought about a show.' But we never intended for this to happen."
And the couple had no idea a TV show could even be a future possibility. Ben explained,
"We owned a stationery company at the time, and our minds went to, what if she bought stationery,
and how awesome that would be. She'll send it to all these important people that she
knows. [...] She decided to put us on TV — and thankfully HGTV loved it and here we are."
If you're considering moving to lovely Laurel, Mississippi,
and wondering how to get your property featured on Home Town, fear not, because the local publication
Downtown Laurel has got it covered. After reaching out to HGTV and RTR Media, they were advised that,
first and foremost, applicants need to be prepared to really sell themselves. They were told,
"We're looking for outgoing characters who love to
tell a good story and are passionate about wanting to live in Laurel."
Simply send an email to Home Town's casting team with details about you who are and why
you want to move to Laurel, if you've recently purchased a property or are looking for one and
not sure where to begin, and, naturally, your renovation budget. The producers also advised,
"We are looking for homes of all types, shapes, and sizes in Laurel and require
that you have a renovation budget that fits the needs of your new home."
The next step is filling out an application form,
after which there's a casting process that lasts anywhere between six weeks and six months.
Erin knew exactly which home she wanted to settle in some day. Since her childhood years,
she kept an eye on a house in Laurel that she dreamed of buying when she was older.
As she later posted on Instagram, describing her history with the house, she said,
"I loved it when I was child, passing by on trips to town, deeply curious about
what it would be like to live in that little yellow cottage, right in the middle of town.
I loved it as a teenager when I took photos of it that I deemed creative. I loved it on
long walks with Ben in college when we would daydream about our someday life together."
And that dream became a reality. As reported by Country Living,
the Napiers moved into Erin's dream house some time after marrying in 2008,
restoring the 1925 house and creating a new home and story for themselves.
Laurel is not just the backdrop for Home Town — it takes center
stage in an important way for the show's hosts.
"Woo!... Woo, Laurel! Anybody?"
Ben and Erin have made it clear that they want their show to give a focus
to small towns and the charming elements of that lifestyle. As Ben shared with Fox News,
"For us, we kind of felt like it was only worth it
if it would shine a positive light on our town and on our state."
Erin then joined in, commenting,
"We were tired of the stereotypes about small towns and the kind of
future and career you can have in a small
town. So we wanted to shine any kind of positive life over that kind of lifestyle."
The Napiers are making sure they do whatever they can to show support.
Aside from starring in a show that puts Laurel in the spotlight, the working couple also makes sure
to use American factories to produce their own products. As Ben told E! during an interview,
"We're focused on revitalizing a small town in America. And if we're going to
be serious about that, we have to be serious about supporting American factories because
that's what those small towns depend on. We're having a lot of fun designing these products."
The Napiers are so in love with Laurel they've based their whole show around
it — and the impact of Home Town is keenly felt by the inhabitants of the Mississippi haven.
A piece by Realtor explained how Ben and Erin were part of a wave
of entrepreneurs who moved back and reinvigorated Laurel's local commerce.
Ross Tucker, the president of the Jones County Chamber of Commerce, shared,
"To have the impact of a nationally recognized TV show
and the impact it has brought into the community is profound."
Before Home Town became a hit, Tucker said,
"We haven't had a traditional attraction for tourism.
Now people are coming through. [...] They want to see where the show was filmed."
Downtown is booming, as is the property market. The Napiers are also instrumental in giving back
to the town, running their own businesses there and donating to local charities,
as Erin did with her old clothes from the show. Driving the point home further,
the executive director of the organization Laurel Main Street, told Atlanta magazine,
"We probably have 100 percent more tourism than we had five years ago."
The various renovations that Ben and Erin take on always look professional — and expensive.
"Oh my gosh this is awesome."
But that's not exactly the case.
This Home Town couple is very careful with budgets when it comes to renovation.
"Gotta be scrappy. Scrappy not crappy is the like the motto of Home Town."
During an interview with Southern Weddings in 2014 — long before any
HGTV success — Erin spoke about her thoughts on money dedicated towards decorating. She said,
"We like shopping flea markets and architectural salvage,
or Ben builds things himself. I'm not impressed by money or expensive things."
The couple finds steals and deals when possible,
but they also know when it's time to invest more in a project. Erin added,
"If we do splurge, it's because we just couldn't live without it
or couldn't find a less pricey comparable option."
With a successful business and show, it's possible that this new fame could go to one's head,
but that's simply not the case for Ben and Erin.
"After 16 more episodes in Season 4, I feel like we finally know, we know how to do this."
The couple still goes about their day-to-day lives. As Erin discussed with Country Living,
"You don't feel like a star. You feel very regular. When you see your face on TV or
you hear your voice, you think, 'This can't be a big deal because I'm a part of it.'"
The entire town of Laurel appears to have the same sentiments.
Erin went on to describe her town since the show began airing, saying,
"People in Laurel are not impressed."
During each episode of Home Town, the audience gets to know Ben and Erin better and better. Aside
from watching the show, the audience can also do that by following Erin's online journal, where she
takes the time to write about what she is grateful for in life. That's already impressive, but even
more applause-worthy is the number of posts Erin shares. As she describes on the website,
"In an effort to count my blessings, this journal has documented only the
good things that happen on each and every day of my life since January 1st, 2010."
From her and Ben's work on houses, to the cherished dinners with friends who are like
family, Erin makes sure to show her gratitude for all of the good things in her life.
Joining the HGTV family has some major perks. Aside from the major excitement
of having a TV show, the stars of the other HGTV shows are there for advice and support.
Ben and Erin have taken some advice from fellow famous home-renovating couple,
Chip and Joanna Gaines. Erin told Country Living,
"The biggest piece of advice I've taken away from them is to keep
our marriage and our family first — the stuff that's been important
to us all along — and as long as you do that, you're going to be fine."
Not content with just working their magic on Laurel, the Napiers turned their attention to
another lucky small town with Home Town Takeover. The spinoff show was announced in January 2020,
with People magazine confirming just a few months later that the 8,278-strong town of Wetumpka,
Alabama had been chosen to undergo a facelift on the six-part series. There were more than half a
million submissions for the spot, proving just how popular Ben and Erin are. Wetumpka has been
struggling recently, but the Napiers aimed to give its citizens hope for the future by
renovating various homes, small businesses, and public spaces. In a press release, Erin said,
"The people of Wetumpka know they have a small town worth saving,
and now the world will see why this tight-knit community deserves a fresh start."
According to local publication WBRC, the Napiers' impact can already be
felt with fans reportedly traveling over to try to catch a glimpse of the couple.
One local business owner even reported business has improved by 30 percent.
As Home Town gives attention to Laurel,
the town is now getting compared to a well-known, fictitious location:
Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. Ben discussed the comparison with People magazine, saying,
"A lot of people have said it's like if Gilmore Girls was a home renovation show,
which I'm a big fan of. That sounds really good to me. When they first said that,
I was like that doesn't make any sense. Stars Hollow is in New England and we're in the South.
But it's very much the characters in the town. And everybody has those characters in their hometown."
In May 2020, Deadline confirmed that HGTV had renewed Home Town for a fifth season,
with new episodes slated for release in 2021.
On her Instagram page, Erin described working on the show as "the honor" of their lives, and added,
"We can't wait to meet 16 more families and bring 16 homes back to life."
As House Beautiful reported, the busy working mother further clarified in
response to a fan comment online that the season was due for release in January.
The Napiers explained during an appearance on the podcast Quarantine Creatives that the fifth
season was shot entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin confirmed masks were mandatory,
with the exceptions being herself and Ben while they were on camera.
Home Town would not be making direct reference to the global health crisis, however.
On another note, Ben admitted to being disappointed by the lack of crew lunches,
since everybody had to eat separately for safety reasons.
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