'A classic Southern town': HGTV's 'Home Town Kickstart' brings fresh facades to La Grange
"The Kindness Capital of Kentucky," which can be found on the map listed as La Grange, Kentucky, received a nice little facelift when HGTV’s “Home Town Kickstart” came to town earlier this year.
Now you can see the transformation for yourself. The episode "Love for La Grange" is now airing on the HGTV channel.
The Kentucky town of 8,000 people located 30 miles northeast of Louisville is one of six small towns across the country picked to be highlighted in the first season of "Home Town Kickstart," a new show hosted by Ben and Erin Napier.
Erin Napier, an artist and graphic designer, and her husband Ben Napier, a woodworker and former minister, first found television success as the hosts of the HGTV series "Home Town," where the couple renovates historic homes in their native Mississippi. In this new spin-off, the Napiers are taking their efforts across the country to continue to ignite a wave of small-town passion.
In each town, the Napiers are joined by other popular HGTV personalities to assist in three key renovations including refreshing the home of a local hero, giving a small business a beautiful upgrade and reinvigorating a public space to enhance the residents' quality of life and engender community pride.
'Home Town': This new HGTV show will give La Grange, Kentucky, a small town makeover
"Erin and I have renovated more than 80 homes in Laurel, Mississippi, for 'Home Town' and we've seen how these improvements change a community for the better," said Ben Napier. "Now, with help from HGTV, we're going to continue what we started and help more small towns across the country."
On Sunday, a large crowd came out to watch the premiere of "Love for La Grange" at a watch party at Southeast Christian Church's La Grange campus. The show's hosts, Ben and Erin Napier, appeared on the big screen.
Ben Napier called La Grange “a classic Southern town, full of hospitality.”
If you missed Sunday's premiere, don't worry. The town's renovations are highlighted in the fourth episode of the series, which includes multiple replays continuing throughout May and June on HGTV. The show can also be streamed on Discovery+.
HGTV’s Joe Mazza ("Home Inspector Joe") and Alison Victoria ("Windy City Rehab") assisted in the La Grange makeover, which included repurposing horse trailers to be used as pop-up shops by local artists, the beautification of downtown alleys to create a walking loop and updating the home of Brandi and Andrew Dunk. Brandi Dunk, a stay-at-home mom with five kids of her own, runs a daycare from her house for children of essential workers. Her efforts to give back to the community were rewarded with a much-needed makeover.
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Besides La Grange, other towns highlighted in the first season of "Home Town Kickstart" include Buffalo, Wyoming; Cornwall, New York; Winslow, Arizona; Thomaston, Georgia; and Minden, Louisiana.
According to HGTV, out of 5,000 other submissions, these six small towns were identified as places that could the Napiers' magic touch and re-energize their revitalization efforts.
Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: HGTV 'Hometown Kickstart' debuts La Grange, Kentucky, episode
