Home Town: A New Beginning and a Classic Mansion Reborn

Erin and Ben Napier help a long-time friend with a special personal connection craft the perfect home for her new family and the start of a new life adventure.

January 03, 2021

By: David L. Haynes

Show: Home Town

Related To:

Shop This Look

Photo By: Laura Good

A Project of Particular Purpose

A photographer and close friend of the Napiers is looking for a traditional home with a touch of modern style. After deciding on a classic home — of mansion-like proportions but in need of some substantive updates — the new owners enlist Ben and Erin to make over the tired house to create a stylish, spacious and family-friendly home.

Shelf Aware

Erin adds some final touches to the remodeled den, including staging some books on decorative ledge shelving.

Level and Square

As is frequently the case, Ben has some ideas for creative and meaningful custom furnishings that will serve as signature elements in this renovation.

Branches and Roots

Ben admires the new "family tree" painting that Erin had specially commissioned from a local artist to serve as a focal feature in the remodeled living room.

Meet the Homeowners

Robbie and Brooke are Laurel residents, newly married and close friends of Erin and Ben. They're looking for a home with classic styling and plenty of room.

A History Together

Erin has known Brooke for years. In fact, Brooke was one of the first employees at the stationery company that Erin ran prior to starting her more recent (and now famous) vocation in home restoration and interior design.

Generation Next

Kingston (at left, with teddy bear) is the son of Brooke and her late husband Brandon who passed away suddenly about two years prior. Kingston's father Brandon had also been a friend of the Napiers and had actually been one of the crew members on the Home Town production team.

New Beginnings

Ben and Erin take Brooke and Robbie to explore some options for their new home. "It's a really special and personal project for Ben and me," said Erin. "Brooke and Robbie are ready to have this brand new start in life together. It's going to be an emotional day."

Big Pink Houses

Before. The Ronk House (aka, per Ben, "The Ronky Tonk") had been the home to Laurel residents Cathy and Larry Ronk since the early 1990s. The house was known for its expansive size (4400 square feet!) and, perhaps most notably, its decidedly pink exterior. It was built in 1940 and came with four bedrooms, three baths and an incredible den space that has to be seen to be believed. It listed at $240,000.

Erin's Vision

For the exterior transformation, Erin envisioned losing the assertively pink exterior, replacing it with a simple, clean white highlighted by green shutters and fresh landscaping.

Fresh, Bright and Just Exactly Right

After. In addition to breathing new life into the home's outward appearance with a bright-white exterior facelift the spring-green highlights, the pitched roof above the front door (probably a later addition) is replaced with a flat overhang with decorative railing, returning the home's facade to a more period-authentic style.

Living Room, Before

The formal living room had wood floors, a brick fireplace, built-in shelving painted white and walls painted in deep red. This room had excellent potential — but perhaps, in its current state, just a little too much red.

Living Room, After

Erin's redesign of the living room retained the built-ins, with just slight revision like removing the ornate corbels. She also maintained the themed color palette seen on the new home exterior, utilizing creamy white highlighted by soft greens.

Living Room, After

"White and green always makes me think of springtime," Erin told Brooke. "That's what I wanted for your whole house — to just feel alive and like a breath of fresh air."

Living Room, Detail

Erin comissioned this original painting for the formal living room — with tree and nature imagery that's emblematic of Brooke, Robbie and Kingston's newly formed family.

Dining Room, Before

The dining room is fairly small in size relative to the other rooms in the house. It came with wood floors and an ornate pattern wallpaper with dark background and bright floral design.

Dining Room, Detail

Both Erin and Brooke felt that the boldly patterned wallpaper was a desirable feature, and one that Erin felt was worth retaining, albeit with a few ancillary tweaks. "I want to paint all of the white and mauve trim black," Erin suggested, "Like a dramatic formal dining room. And keep the wallpaper — which is the cool thing about the room."

Dining Room, After

Erin's decision to paint the lower panels and trim in black was, by her own admission, a bold choice — but one that ultimately gave the room a more unified look and dramatic appeal.

Dining Room, After

Kitchen, Before

The kitchen, prior to the renovation, was adequately laid out but visually outdated and bland, with dated floor-tile covering nearly all surfaces — the floor as well as the backsplash, island and countertops.

Erin's redesign for the kitchen provided a brighter, more contemporary and streamlined look —with ceiling-height cabinets, white stone countertops and a single solid surface for the island.

From: Erin Napier and Ben Napier

Kitchen, Before

Kitchen, After

Other enhancements for the kitchen include a new custom vent hood, updated lighting, new stainless appliances and modern black barstools at the island breakfast-bar.

Den, Before

Without question the most spectacularly unusual attribute of the home was this massive den space just off the formal living room. Though dark and dated in appearance, with worn and rotting wall-to-wall carpeting, the space had marvelous potential with its high vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beams.

Den, After

The raw wood beams and wood-panel ceiling are retained, but the room is brightened up dramatically with freshly painted white walls and comfortable, casual furnishings in earthy and neutral tones.

Den, Before

Den, After

The massive brick fireplace and exposed chimney are also painted white, and a new wood-beam mantel added.

Den, After

Den, Detail

Ben's custom addition in the den is the handmade wooden toybox for Kingston. The piece was made using wood repurposed from furniture that had belonged to Kingston's dad, Brandon, and his mom, Brooke.

And Just Off the Den

The den space was further lightened up with a large new opening with sliding glass doors that open onto this new backyard deck.

Before

After

A Scotsman Co. Original

Another of Ben's custom pieces was this solid wood dining table with integrated lazy-Susan center panel. The piece was made from lumber repurposed from Robbie's grandfather's wood shop.

Impromptu Ingenuity

Erin undertakes some of her trademark DIY design, embellishing a lampshade in a bold blue and white covering.

Team Work

Erin and Ben collaborate on some of the final touches in Brooke and Robbie's new kitchen.

A Tree Grows in Laurel

Erin introduces Brooke and Robbie to their new original painting symbolizing their family and the beginnings of their new journey together.

Y'all Please Come Back!

Keep checking back at Home Town Central for more new photo galleries, Home Town news and exclusive video including the special digital companion series, Erin'spired.

We Recommend

Home Town: The Church House 50 Photos

Home Town: The Colors of Hope 41 Photos

500 Operands are not of the same type: comparison is supported for Number types only.

Operands are not of the same type: comparison is supported for Number types only.

Cannot serve request to /content/hgtv-com/en/shows/on-tv/h/home-town/photo-galleries/home-town-season-5-galleries/a-new-beginning-and-a-mansion-reborn.html on this server

ApacheSling/2.7 (jetty/9.4.42.v20210604, Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 1.8.0_271, Linux 4.14.203-156.332.amzn2.x86_64 amd64)