The couple tells that Christmastime is their favorite time of year — not just because it’s the season of giving, but because it’s an opportunity for change and rebirth. That’s also how they describe the spirit of Home Town, returning to HGTV for its seventh season on Jan. 7.
The holidays are a special time of year to Ben, who says their latest special Home Town Holidays, which aired Dec. 17, sought to remind viewers about the importance of family, friends and home — something the world needs right now, he says.
“With everything in the news, it’s really rough,” he explains. “It’s tumultuous and there’s so much division.”
That’s where Home Town comes in, explains Erin.
“‘We focus on: What do we have in common? What do we all love? We all want to feel at home,” she says. “We’re all people of Home Town because everyone is from somewhere. It might be a small town, or you may have some special connection to a small town, and you want to see it do well.”
Unlike other design shows, Erin points out, they never implement designer trends while revitalizing homes. Instead, they focus on giving “second chances” to families by bringing new life to their existing decor — be it a playroom, living room, an outdoor patio or even simple furniture pieces.
That philosophy is an extension of their faith, Ben explains.
“We all want to know that second chances are available. We’ve all messed up, but what we’re saying is, ‘Look at these houses. They should have been bulldozed down but they haven’t,’” he says. “Nothing is beyond repair and nothing is irredeemable.”
The ideas of rebirth and rebuilding, Ben explains, are evident in one of the episodes of the upcoming season, where the couple knocks down a house. It’s the first time in the show’s history that they’ve built a new home from scratch.
Another milestone renovation viewers can expect in the new season is “the biggest residence in Home Town history,” says Ben.
“It’s very glamorous,” Erin teases. “And it’s not a barn, either!”
For Erin, the comfort of home is a spiritual practice.
“Houses are reflections of human longing,” she says. “I mean, why do we have a living room if not to be together in it and to cuddle on a couch together?”
Not to mention binge-watching holiday movies, which they admit to doing nearly every night in December with their kids.
“So far, we have seen all of them,” Erin says of Christmas movies they’ve been cozying up with, including It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and its reunion sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas.
The couple hopes that, like some of those holiday classics, their show will remind viewers that the best gift is one you can give yourself: “Dream big.”
“We have the dream of always being able to tell the story of how things are made in small-town America,” she says. “Small towns only survive if industry there survives.”
“We’re sitting in our cubby right now,” Ben says, “But behind [the wall], in our world, there’s 75 people working right now, building things. That’s the story we’re always trying to tell: What’s made here, who’s making it and how, when we support them, our towns thrive.”
Home Town Season 7 premieres Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.