These Special Moments From 'Home Town' Through the Years Will Make You Smile

Ben and Erin Napier have dead-on instincts and just the right sets of skills when it comes to recognizing potential in classic old homes, but their best talent is turning that potential into reality. And their intentions go well beyond fixing up and remodeling these houses: Since the first season of Home Town, they've maintained a passion for revitalizing the small town they live in and love, Laurel, Mississippi. And this passion has spanned seven seasons of their hit series and a variety of spinoff series and specials including Home Town Takeover, Home Town Kickstart, Ben's Workshop and Home Town Takeover: Where Are They Now. This impromptu portrait is from Season 7. Now ... let's step back to the beginning.

The multitalented Erin does double duty as show host and production assistant, slating a scene from the second-ever episode of Home Town. In this episode, A House With History, the Napiers revitalize and restore charm to a couple's 1910 home, which has an interesting history dating to WWII.

Ben and Erin share a moment in historic downtown Laurel during Home Town's first season. "No one loves a place more than we love our town," Ben says in the opening of the show's pilot. "We're trying to help it. We're trying to bring it back." Finishing the thought, Erin chimes in: "And the only way we know how to contribute to bringing it back to its heyday is to make it a friendly and welcoming place to new people who are coming here. It's going through a major rebirth, and it's so exciting to be a part of it."

Erin and Ben's enduring love, their charming chemistry and sense of humor have been hallmarks of the show's enduring appeal since day one.

Erin and Ben pose for a pic with clients Ross and Laura Tew following the reveal of the very first Home Town renovation project. In the pilot episode, the Napiers helped the couple find a small-town forever home with authentic Southern charm. Erin's plan focused on layering the couple's family treasures into the new design, while maintaining a charming and curated ambiance.

Ben cruises by in his vintage 1962 Chevy pickup emblazoned with the logo of his woodworking shop, Scotsman Co. In Season 1, Episode 7, the Napiers help Amanda Matthews — who'd been living in San Antonio but was eager to move back to Mississippi — create her picture-perfect home. Amanda expressed a penchant for front porches, and Ben and Erin delivered in the form of a restored three-bedroom charmer with a classic Southern-style porch, artist studio space and a to-die-for kitchen.

Girls do love flowers, and Erin is no exception. Here she strikes a pose in a behind-the-scenes moment from the Matthews project in Season 1.

Ben picks a wood chip from Erin's hair while the duo works on a new custom light fixture at the Scotsman Co. Workshop. In this project from Season 2, the Napiers help the Burk couple find the perfect spot to create a family friendly home that's a modern take on a classic farmhouse.

Erin spreads out a blanket on the front lawn during the Burk renovation project as she works to recondition a salvaged light fixture.

Host Erin Napier spends quality time with her father, Phil Rasberry, as they tile the fireplace at the Burk house.

From Season 2, Episode 8: Giddy with the arrival of their family's newest addition, Ben shows off the details of the surprise crib he's building for new daughter, Helen. More Napier-nursery inspiration: Check out Helen's magical nursery and read Erin's own take on fashioning the perfect nursery.

Good Southern food and hospitality figures heavily in the spirit of Home Town, and dining rooms and dining tables often play a big role in the Napiers' renovations, as referenced here in the Rice Project. Erin and Ben created a quaint and colorful gathering spot by restoring a 1901 cottage-style home for a couple returning to small-town life. (And along the way, they deal with some interesting former tenants.)

Ben welcomes daughter Helen Napier to the world in a cherished and celebrated moment that happened during the series' second season. Read more about Baby Helen's arrival — and keep up with the latest updates from the Napier family on Erin's Insta.

The camera caught an adorably spontaneous moment while filming an interview segment during the Keller project in Season 3. During this episode, Ben and Erin help a former Laurel resident, returning home after more than 30 years away, convert a small vintage house with a dated kitchen into an open and airy retreat.

A big part of the show's fun and magic is anticipating and seeing the "final reveal" — during which homeowners get their first glimpse of their newly reimagined home. This one from Season 4 is just one example, but it's a great one. In a project of ambitious scale, Ben and Erin help Margaret and Michael Brooks create a family home they won't soon outgrow featuring bright and upbeat interiors and a stellar kitchen in a palette of vivid greens and blues.

It's not Home Town if Ben isn't sporting a sleek cowboy look while completing exterior repairs.

Ben takes a load off while "checking the dimensions" on a vintage tub used in the Jones project in Season 4. Fun Fact: He's sporting a Ben-for-city-council T-shirt from his run for public office in Laurel in 2013. He ran with the slogan “Big Ben for Small Business.” (Alas, he didn't win, losing by a narrow margin, but we suspect that if he were to run again, it would be a landslide.)

Ben tries out a Ben-sized tricycle during a salvage search during the Jones project.

Ben and Erin go slightly off-script during a segment from Season 4, Episode 7. During this project, the Napiers faced one of their bigger challenges: resurrecting a young student's family home located in a Laurel neighborhood ravaged by hurricane Katrina. The result is a creatively reimagined cottage retreat with an artistic ambiance and Scandinavian-inspired touches — but one that retains distinctive ties to the home's history.

The Napiers find a novel use for bathroom-sink supply lines during the vanity installation in Rena Register's home restoration in Season 4. During this project, Erin and Ben rescue a long-vacant and crumbling cabin to create a country cottage, which, though small, is welcoming and filled with family history and charm.

In this project from Season 4, Erin and Ben juggle an ambitious rental-property renovation and take on unchartered territory: the full restoration of a vintage Airstream gifted to them by Chris and Morgane Stapleton.

Erin and Ben pose for a portrait in the renovated kitchen at the Edlin cabin from Season 5. In this project, Erin and Ben help a Laurel native, now a musician and music producer in Nashville, restore a cherished but deteriorating cabin that had belonged to his father.