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“Property Brothers” star Jonathan Scott is hard at work on his next passion project — and it’s one that hits very close to home.
He’s doing a ground-up rebuild of his fiancée Zooey Deschanel‘s childhood home, which burned to the ground in 2025 during the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles.
The 1920s Spanish Revival-style residence, where she grew up in with her sister, former “Bones” actress Emily Deschanel, was one of the oldest properties in the Palisades. It was where their parents — multiple Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel, of “Twin Peaks” fame — still lived when they fled the flames.
She shared her family’s story in a heartbreaking, yet hopeful, post on Instagram. Like many families, Deschanel’s parents lost everything in the blaze, from cherished photographs to furniture made by her great-great grandfather.
“It was not a mansion but it was cozy and lovely and unique and perfect to me,” Deschanel wrote. “One of my friends growing up called it ‘The Church’ because the 14-foot ceilings with stained glass windows in the living room cast colorful shadows at the end of the day. And to me it was holy, a sanctuary where we felt most safe.”
Now, safety especially is at top of mind.
Scott said his goal is to build back the home and to make it better able to withstand natural disasters. He shared details on the project on an affordable housing panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills earlier this month. He also aims a minimal alteration for some of the original home’s design to make it easier for Deschanel’s parents to navigate as they age.
“Just because you’re building something fire-resilient, it doesn’t have to look like a modern box,” Scott said. “The house we’re building will look like the original 100-year-old home.”
Scott is using a disaster-proof technology to build it back better and stronger — without wood.
In an interview with Gimme Shelter following the panel, Scott shared some new details on the rebuild, which he is chronicling for a documentary. Not only will the residence be able to withstand fires, but it will also weather floods and earthquakes.
It’s all thanks to technology that said “people have just never seen.” Thanks in part to city pop-ups that launched to expedite permit requests for homeowners who are rebuilding following the wildfires, the rebuild is moving even faster than anticipated, Scott said.
“We are flying along,” Scott said.
The technology, RSG 3-D, uses 3-D structural concrete-insulated panels to build energy-efficient and disaster-resilient structures.
“The whole system is locked together, and then you shock and create the entire thing from the inside and the outside with concrete to lock it all in,” he said.
Although the technology has been around since the 1990s and is “well established,” it was mainly used in industrial applications.
“Now we’re seeing it at a price point that works” for homeowners, Scott said.
It’s still around 10% more than building a wood-framed home. But, according to Scott, it’s worth it.
There are other cons associated with RSG 3-D technology. It blocks cell signals, so those who use it will “want to make sure you have a good networking system within the house,” with lots of routers. It also means that you “can’t just put a nail in the wall and put a picture up. You would want to put in a proper anchor,” Scott said.
At this stage in the rebuild, the changes are visible and it’s attracting attention from locals. The buzz and curiosity, Scott said, is exciting.
“What I’m excited about is that people are now stopping on the regular to see this technology erect because there is no wood used at all,” Scott said.
One of the problems that Scott has seen in the rebuilding process is that some people wanted to start building so quickly, they went with what they knew instead of looking for newer, better options that would create safer and better disaster-proof dwellings.
“It would have been great if more people [had known] about these kinds of technologies. But there was a rush. People wanted to rush into doing what they know, and that’s the challenge,” Scott said.
Scott’s rebuild is slated for an end-of-year completion. The goal, he said, is also to showcase rebuilds in other areas of the country recovering from natural disasters, in places like Texas and Florida.
“The documentary follows housing in general. In my opinion, the path to success is not just on how we build, but also making sure we’re building enough,” Scott said.
English (US)