First comes love, then comes a dream home! Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel have taken the next step in their relationship: purchasing their first house as a couple.
Scott, 43, detailed the duo’s journey to finding their forever home in an essay for his and brother Drew Scott’s magazine, Drew + Jonathan Reveal, part of which was published on Monday, December 27. (The full Winter 2022 issue is available on January 7.)
“As we pulled up the drive, it just seemed … magical,” Jonathan wrote in an essay for the magazine about the Georgian-style house, which was designed by architect Gerard Colcord. “It sat on a little over an acre [of land], and with its lush lawn and massive California sycamores, it looked like a park.”
The Property Brothers star has been dating Deschanel, 41, since 2019. The couple knew they’d found the right home once the New Girl alum’s two kids — Elsie, 6, and Charlie, 4, whom she shares with ex-husband Jacob Pechenik — saw the place.
“When we first brought the kids by the property, they dubbed it the Park House. And you know what happens when you name something, whether it’s a mangy stray dog or a beautiful home of your dreams? You keep it,” Jonathan wrote. “The next thing you know, Zooey and I owned the Park House.”
The Property Brothers: Forever Home star noted that the couple purchased the house, which was built in in 1938, in May 2020 and closed on the property one month later. The road to finishing the project, however, has been a little bumpy amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Jonathan explaining, “Literally everyone on the planet who was building or renovating anything over the last two years is experiencing delays.”
The Canada native revealed that there “always” tend to be “find hidden problems” when renovating a new pad, but he and his girlfriend have been able to push through the setbacks as a team.
“We have each other, and we have time — the rest of our lives together in this house. Our house,” he wrote. “Our dream home, where we’ll see the kids grow up laughing and adventuring in the yard, where we’ll play host to friends and family.”
The contractor, who will continue to walk fans through the couple’s remodel with each new magazine issue, explained that the five-bedroom house is the “largest residential renovation I’ve ever done in my career.”
To make it even more exciting, the pair chose to implement eco-friendly features, such as fossil, fuel-free heating and cooling and solar panels on the roof. Through it all, Jonathan said he and the Elf actress have focused on their strengths and argued very little about their visions.
“I knew what our roles would be ever since Zooey appeared on Celebrity IOU, when I discovered she absolutely loathes demolition,” he explained. “I clearly would be the construction lead and Zooey would be my liaison designer. As a couple undertaking a massive renovation project, if the most you’re disagreeing on is sink placement and recessed lighting, you’re probably doing well.”
Jonathan, who called Deschanel the “PB to my J,” added that the home will hopefully be completed by February 2022. With any luck, it will perfectly reflect the couple’s senses of style and personalities.
“I want the reveal to be perfect,” he wrote. “I’m sure we’ll change a few things once we move in, swap some furniture. But overall, I want it as close to her vision as possible because I know, like her, it will be beautiful, eclectic, and wonderfully unique.”