Erin Napier Says Her 40th Birthday Party Turned Into a 'Funeral' After Hotel Fire
HGTV star Erin Napier is reflecting on what should have been one of the happiest weekends of her life - her 40th birthday - and how it became an impromptu gathering to mourn the devastating fire that tore through The Heirloom hotel.
The Home Town star recalled celebrating the milestone just days after the August 2025 blaze damaged the hotel she and her husband, Ben Napier, had spent years restoring with family and friends, including Erin's cousin Jim Rasberry and his wife, Mallorie. Alongside close friends Josh and Emily Nowell.
Instead of a festive birthday bash, Erin said the gathering turned into what felt like a "funeral" for the beloved project. "All I wanted for my birthday was to eat dip," Erin joked on a recent episode of The Heirloom Podcast. "So, we ate dip and cried."
Ben explained how tears came so easily. "I don't know if you want to leave all this in there, but the fire happens, a close member of the extended family goes into the hospital, and nobody really knows what's going on. Erin's parents chose to have their dog put down that week, and then Erin's turning 40," Ben said, recounting the timeline of events surrounding Erin's birthday.
Erin added, "Mallorie had volunteered to host my 40th birthday party. And I was like, ‘We are not having the party this weekend. That is not happening.' And Mallorie said, ‘I need to be with all my people.'"
Josh said that's when the fire happened. "That's what was kind of 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."
The Napier-Rasberry-Nowell restoration team is still in the recovery phase from the fire. And Josh admitted the future remains uncertain. "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," he said. "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. So, I think some really cool things are down the pike."
Mallorie also offered some optimism. "We're a lot better off than we were 10 months ago."
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 10:55 AM.