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Erin Napier is staying as busy as ever with the Home Town franchise on HGTV, which she and her husband, Ben, have been doing for over a decade. So, as she turned 40 and entered a new chapter of life, it was supposed to be great. However, she got candid about why her birthday actually felt like a "funeral."
The designer and entrepreneur turned 40 last August, but it’s been a trying year. She and Ben continued to work on Home Town and were even in the midst of renovating a hotel for their series Home Town: Inn This Together, streaming now with an HBO Max subscription. The hotel, unfortunately, caught on fire, with Napier revealing the tragic news in December. As expected, it was tough news to swallow, especially since it happened right around Napier’s birthday milestone.
Both Napier and her husband appeared on an episode of The Heirloom Podcast, hosted by frequent Home Town collaborators Josh Nowell and Jim Rasberry. The hosts recap each episode of Inn This Together, with the newest episode, “Drumroll Please…,” touching on the fire. Nowell recalled what it was like when the fire happened and how Napier’s birthday party doubled as a funeral for their hard work:
- Josh Nowell: So when the fire happened, and that’s kind of what’s nice about your birthday party, the locals understood how hard we had been working. But the public had not… they don’t really know until these episodes have aired how hard we were all working to make this happen. And so that was pretty special to have friends and just to be around each other.
- Erin Napier: We all had a little funeral.
- Josh Nowell: At your 40th birthday party.
Of course, fans have now been able to see the hard work the Napiers and everyone else have put into the hotel with Home Town: Inn This Together airing on the 2026 TV schedule. However, at the time, it was unknown just how much they did when the fire happened. The fact that it also happened near Napier’s birthday, I can imagine her not wanting to really celebrate. It does sound like it was a bit easier having her friends and coworkers surrounding her, people who knew what she and Ben were going through.
It’s heartbreaking to know what that whole situation was like, both because renovations had just been completed and turning 40 was supposed to be a happy occasion. Inn This Together did wrap up with the fire episode, but it’s clear that the work will never be done. Nowell and Rasberry, along with Mallorie Rasberry, own The Heirloom Hotel. As of now, construction still needs to be done on it, but Nowell told listeners to “stay tuned” for what could be next, especially as Home Town continues.
As Erin Napier prepares to turn 41 later this summer, she will more than likely continue to remain busy with Home Town and other projects she and Ben are cooking up. Hopefully, though, her birthday is a little lighter this year, and there is no funeral. What happened at The Heirloom is a tragedy, but it sounds like she and everyone else are looking forward.
