Fans watched an old department store become The Heirloom Hotel on HGTV‘s four-part series “Home Town: Inn This Together.” The finale showed the devastating 2025 fire that tore through the Laurel, MS building. Now, the owners are sharing an update on what’s next for The Heirloom Hotel.
Heirloom Hotel Owners Reveal What’s Next After 2025 Fire
On the June 7 episode of “The Heirloom Podcast,” the “framily” — Ben and Erin Napier, Josh and Emily Nowell, and Jim and Mallorie Rasberry — discussed the series, the finale, and the fire.
They also shared their thoughts on what’s next for the hotel.
Josh Nowell noted, “So, what’s next? We have been working for 20 years to make our town shine like we know it can shine. That’s what we’ve all been doing together.”
“I know this, that for the next 20 years, Lord willing, we will continue that work,” he continued. “And so, as far as what’s next for us, I am hopeful for the next season of life.”
Josh added, “As far as what’s next, I know that I don’t know what’s going to come next. I didn’t know we’d be where we are now, but I’m grateful that I’m here with you guys. I’m grateful that I get to do this with y’all.”
Mallorie Rasberry interjected, “We’re a lot better off than we were 10 months ago.”
She added, “I don’t know what’s next, but I don’t want the last one minute of that episode to be the final story.”
Jim Rasberry admitted, “I spent the first couple months after the fire thinking I didn’t know what was next. For one of the first times in my life, I wasn’t really in the mood to try to figure out what was next or determine it, get a goal, put it in action — like that’s what I do — and that wasn’t happening.”
He continued, “But that’s not the case anymore. I think you live in that little weird spot for a time and then you emerge from that. And so, while we don’t know exactly what’s next, that doesn’t mean that we’re not thinking about it. What this has given us, I think, is an opportunity to kind of dream about what’s next and be thinking about what’s next.”
“And so it’s not like something that’s not out there. We have a vision and we have goals for our community, for ourselves, for our state. And we continue to want to make it better,” he added. “So, I think some really cool things are are down the pike.”
Will Fans See More of the Laurel, MS Heirloom Hotel Story on HGTV?
Josh teased, “We’ve been doing a little planning … We’ve got some ideas.”
Will HGTV tell the next chapter of the story?
“Will we do it again on HGTV? We don’t know,” he said. “We’re going to see what ‘it’ is and then we’ll work to see what that might look like.”
He added, “But we’re very grateful for the network for telling our story [and] the story of our town to so many people … yeah, stay tuned.”
Fans lit up the comments section of Mallorie’s post about the podcast episode, sharing kind words and optimism about the hotel’s future.
“The hard work and love you all put into the hotel is very admirable,” one fan noted. “You’ll come back better and stronger.”
Another fan commented, “Heartbreaking to watch after such long hard work. What poise and courage you all showed in the aftermath.”
“The massive fire to the hotel had to be very devastating and I really hope that everyone in Laurel will come together and help rebuild it back even better than before!” another fan wrote.
