Janelle Brown Admits Her Utah ‘Hometown’ Feeling ‘Unfamiliar’ During Latest Visit in Candid Post

NEED TO KNOW

• Janelle Brown is reflecting on what her hometown in Utah means to her
• “Everywhere I turn it seems unfamiliar. Like I remember the area but it doesn’t look at all the same,” she wrote on Instagram of the nostalgic place
• Janelle, her daughter and son-in-law currently live in North Carolina after moving east

Janelle Brown is reflecting on her hometown’s changes after moving away.

The Sister Wives star posted about a recent weekend trip to Salt Lake City on Dec. 15 that made her feel nostalgic once she was able to see the expansive mountains of her native Utah. The reality star now lives in North Carolina on a 156-acre property with her daughter Maddie and son-in-law Caleb Brush.

“It’s always such an interesting experience returning to what I consider my ‘home town,’ ” Janelle, 56, wrote. “Even after all the visits in the past several years I drive around with a sense of nostalgia. Even though things look so different.”

“Everywhere I turn it seems unfamiliar. Like I remember the area but it doesn’t look at all the same,” she continued.

“Buildings are gone and shiny big brand new ones stand in their place. Farm land turned into subdivisions. Some things of course have stood the test of time and change. And they are dotted like little treasures hidden in the sea of new.”

Despite the changes Janelle noticed, she appreciated how “the mountains are the same.” “With the peaks making the same skyline I know by heart. Maybe that is what makes it still feel like home.”

She continued, “I didn’t even have much time to enjoy the mountains this trip. I was able to snap this quick shot from the airport. If you look close, you will see the radar towers on the top of Francis Peak.”

In her early 20s, she recalls, she would drive up into the mountains “to sit and survey the entire valley, which was especially amazing to witness as the sun went down.”

Janelle previously posted about her move to North Carolina in December 2024, which she made earlier that year to put down “some permanent roots” after her split from her ex-husband, Kody Brown.

Before that, she stayed in Flagstaff, Ariz., after she and Kody, 56, separated in December 2022 to remain close to her children.

She called the North Carolina property her “first true home.” “Houses I have owned before were bought often because it was what worked for my big chaotic family. Often reflecting not what I chose or wanted but what worked.”

With her daughter and son-in-law, Janelle now runs Taeda Farms. The project is “about creating a sanctuary where people can gather, connect, and find solace in the beauty of nature,” per the farm’s website.