Words: Laura Lafferty

ALEXANDRIA, AL — It was 2021, and local realtor Erin Griffith was on the precipice of a new life when she walked across the threshold of the parsonage of her childhood church and took a leap of faith.

Today, the exterior of the 1938 bungalow is drenched in warm white and even in Alexandria, AL, a northeast Alabama town graced with old homes and Kelley green farmland, the restored parsonage stands out, capturing an aesthetic both of the moment and true to period. But when Erin found the house, it was easy to overlook.

Erin grew up in Alexandria, where she attended the local United Methodist Church, which once owned the modest parsonage within eyeshot of the sanctuary. When she moved home in 2021, Erin was an established professional embarking on a new chapter as a single mom. When she visited the house to list the property, she had a vision and did something most newly single parents can only dream of: Erin assembled a dream team of carpenters to revive the old home and start a new life.

“As soon as I walked in, I just knew what it could be,” Erin said, adding that she told the owners, “‘Y’all might think I’m crazy, but I think I want to buy your house.’”

The home retains a simple roofline, a shotgun-like structure and a porch that spans the length of the facade. The porch features four columns, anchored in brick, a haint blue ceiling and a cement floor, painted soft gray. And on a recent Wednesday, the American flag hung from a front column and flapped slightly in the winter wind.

Before the renovation, the parsonage was a one-story home, divided into small rooms. Erin expanded the floor plan to include two stories, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a dining area, a kitchen, two living spaces, an office, a playroom and a butler’s pantry.

A banner year in real estate and the sale of two family properties funded her venture, Erin said. She purchased the property for $100,000 and invested more than twice that in the house.

Erin planned to raise her children there, but in 2025, another life transition, a new marriage, prompted her to sell.

Ahead of the sale, the property was listed for $400,000 and included 2,500 square feet.

Homebuilder Brenton Harden, local cabinetmaker Ronald McCully, and Northeast Alabama floor refinisher Justin Ball were instrumental in the evolution of the home. Final features were purchased from Anniston-based Mike Cova and light fixtures from a designer brand launched from Birmingham, Gabby Home.

Erin said directing the project was easy with Harden at the helm. She relayed her vision for the property, telling him that she wanted warm-white walls, tall baseboards and an open floor plan. Then she said she relied on his nearly 50 years of building experience to bring these elements together and create a look she loved.

“Honestly, his talent makes this home shine,” she said.

The pair worked without blueprints, considering each aspect of the layout, and then later the design, step by step. She recalled peering into the cavity of the open attic imagining and reimagining how the space could work for her family.

“All it was was just rafters and floor joists, and I would just stand there. And I would just look. And finally, I figured it out,” she said.

Transforming the attic into living space doubled the size of the home, but the entire home, not just the attic, was restructured. At Erin’s direction, bathrooms multiplied, hallways transitioned to closets, doors disappeared, thresholds stretched and a staircase materialized.

When Erin was finished, the front door opened to a living room, which Erin outfitted with two floor-to-ceiling bookcases, a large rolled-arm leather sofa and a piano. She hung an original painting on one wall and shadow-boxed baby clothes, one for each of Erin’s children, on opposing walls in the room.

All of the home's main living spaces can be viewed at a glance from the front living room. Design details, including hardwood flooring, custom cabinetry and plantation shutters, tie the rooms together. Large craftsman-style windows, the new staircase and a line of bold lighting choices lead the eye from the front living room through the kitchen to a large window on the back wall, a feature that anchors the whole space in light.

Erin said it also took discipline, flexible work hours and support from family to balance her two jobs — Erin was also a partner in a clothing boutique — with renovating the home and caring for her children.

Her schedule varied, but after dropping her children off on weekday mornings, Erin would visit the construction site, often in stilettos, to consult with contractors. Then, she said, she would tackle her daily work as a realtor, weaving the renovation into a busy schedule.

Erin said practical support was key to her success. Critical members of her support team, she said, were her parents.

Erin was living less than a mile away with them during the renovation, and having backup made progress possible.

“I had a lot of help,” Erin said.

Erin said she will always be happy she tackled the renovation. In so doing, she revived the old house, started a new life and even gave back to the town that gave her a place to call home.

“I would do it all over again,” Erin said. “Number one, I feel like I’ve left a mark on my community.”

Rural Studio

Beautiful design meets affordable housing in Alabama's Black Belt.

Words and image : Laura Lafferty

Visiting Laurel, Miss., Home of HGTV's Home Town

I love taking short trips to Southern cities.

A few years ago, I turned a work trip into a vacation in Florence, Ala. In 2018, I played tourist in Fairhope, Ala. Then, just last week, I visited Laurel, Miss., a town about four hours southwest of Jacksonville, Ala.

If you know Laurel, it's probably because of Home Town, the popular HGTV show filmed there. It follows Ben and Erin Napier as they work to revive the city one house at a time. I'd been meaning to visit for a while when I saw a notice that the town would soon host a block party. I called my favorite friend, grabbed my son and headed south.

Visiting Laurel felt like stepping into a television show. It also felt a little like coming home.

At 9 a.m. on a Monday, we climbed out of the car beside Sweet Somethings, a bakery that also operates as a bed-and-breakfast. Hungry, we tried the door only to discover it was closed for the day.

We continued walking, corralling my 3-year-old as we wandered the quiet streets.

My stomach was beginning to growl when we spotted the visitor center inside a stately old bank with a revolving door. We approached only to find it closed until 10 a.m. Moments later, my son slipped away and headed back toward the revolving door. We followed him back to the door just as a young man in a bow tie emerged and welcomed us inside early.

We were there for only a moment when we met Natalie Raspberry, who appears on Home Town as one of Erin's friends. She pointed us in the right direction and offered exactly the recommendations we needed.

It set the tone for the rest of the day.

The people seem to know one another, and when you meet them, they make you feel as though they know you, too—or at least want to. Downtown is simple and inviting, with brick streets, twinkling string lights, a few locally owned restaurants and specialty shops, including two owned by Ben and Erin. There's even a shuttered Fred's storefront because, really, what Southern hometown doesn't have one?

We ate breakfast at Lee's Coffee and Tea, which someone had once described to me as the Luke's Diner of Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow. That's a pretty apt comparison.

The food is good, the coffee is hot and the staff is there to work. Lee's, as the locals call it, has a cozy atmosphere, an expansive menu for a coffee shop and food that feels as homemade as anything from your grandmother's kitchen.

Outside the restaurant, several artists set up downtown to paint en plein air, placing canvas atop wooden tripod-like structures and painting what was in view. A couple mentioned in passing that they'd appeared on the show. One was working on the early stages of a streetscape painting when she told us she'd seen Ben's blue truck drive past earlier that day.

I didn't realize it at the time, but he was filming one of his driving videos. Later that day—or maybe the next—I came across it on Instagram. It's still funny when the digital world and the real one briefly overlap.

Our next stop was Laurel Mercantile Co., the couple's signature shop. It's a carefully curated reflection of Erin's style, filled with vintage-inspired pennants, bold florals and hand-lettered prints. You'll also find sturdy flannel shirts, delicate glassware and inexpensive wrapping paper printed in nostalgic color palettes.

My favorite items, though, weren't for sale.

One was a tiny Melissa & Doug grocery cart. The other was a beautifully crafted wooden 18-wheeler.

My son immediately reached for the truck, and I started to tell him it wasn't a toy. Before I could, one of the employees smiled and invited him to play. He spent the rest of our visit pushing the grocery cart and driving the truck around the store. 

We also stopped by Scotsman Co. General Store, an old-fashioned shop connected by a wall of windows to Ben's woodworking shop featured on Home Town.

There was a cooler stocked with old-fashioned bottled sodas and a small refrigerator filled with containers of live fishing worms. Hand-lettered signs added personality throughout the store. My favorite read, "Measure once, cuss twice."

The woodworking shop held special meaning for our family. My husband's late grandfather built homes and cabinets for a living and taught those skills to him. These days, as my husband likes to say, he "drives a desk," but he still built much of the cabinetry and stair railing in our own home. Seeing the shop reminded me that woodworking is more than a trade. It's part of our family's story.

By the time we'd wrapped up our shopping, it was time for lunch.

We found a limited event menu at the curbside version of Cosmic Cafe, a local favorite. At the owner's recommendation, I ordered the redfish tacos and fries. The tacos were fresh, spicy and excellent, and I'm not sure I've ever had crispier fries.

We carried our lunch to the city's Art Park, where bright green turf blankets the ground beneath sprawling live oaks. Yellow Adirondack chairs are scattered throughout the park, and a small turf-covered hill gives children a place to climb and slide. It's the kind of space that invites you to linger over lunch or spend a quiet afternoon watching children play.

Then came the main event: the city block party.

As dusk settled over Laurel, people began filling a blocked-off downtown street with folding chairs they'd brought from home. A giant screen stood beside a small stage where a crowd of roughly 1,000 people—many of them locals—prepared to watch the Season 3 finale of Home Town at the same time as the rest of the country.

There would be no advance screening for this audience.

Before the episode began, the mayor, a representative from the University of Mississippi and the governor addressed the crowd. But the moment everyone seemed to be waiting for was the appearance of Ben and Erin Napier and Judi Holifield, whose family was featured in the finale.

About halfway through the episode, a light rain began to fall.

Families with young children—including mine—were the first to leave. As the drizzle turned steadier, more people quietly folded their chairs and headed home.

Not everyone.

Across the audience, men and women simply opened umbrellas and kept watching.

They weren't there because HGTV cameras were rolling.

They weren't even there because Ben and Erin had become television stars.

They were there to support each other—and their hometown.

REVISED IN 2026.

Meet your forever party menu

Words and image: Laura Lafferty

Our free cat came at a high cost

Words and image: Laura Lafferty

This little mister was a free find. We found him on the Facebook marketplace at no cost. He was just five-or-so weeks old, itching from fleas, sick with a stomach bug, and struggling with a double eye infection, but oh so cute. Long story short: When we finished our first vet visit and bought food, cat litter, and a carrier, we were knocking on $400 for this cute little critter. That's a lot for a cat, y'all. We're not sorry, but a lesson learned: It may be less expensive to collect a pet from a shelter or even a responsible breeder than getting a pet "free" from an individual. Our little Appolo is THE best cat ever. We may not have gotten a healthy kitten, but we sure did get a good one! We ❤️ our #rescue.

Birthday bites

Words and image: Laura Lafferty

I have always loved being a July baby. Summer, rubies and fireworks all make my birth month superior to all other months. So too, do the seasonal fruits and vegetables that are served up in July. Give me a tomato sandwich, a pile of blueberries, or a bowl of peaches, please. One or more of the things I love about July actually syncs up with my birthday. Such was the case this year when I made this fresh-berry strawberry cake. #FancyFolk