Jonathan Scott Gets Emotional on CNN Over Zooey Deschanel Childhood Home Rebuild

Jonathan Scott gave fans an update on his meaningful off-screen project.

Back in December 2025, Scott’s fiancée, Zooey Deschanel, revealed that the HGTV star was rebuilding her childhood home after it burned down in the January 2025 Pacific Palisades fire. “We’re rebuilding their house in non-combustible materials — it’s really cool to learn about all that,” she told People at the time.

Scott revealed the progress on the home’s rebuild during a recent interview with Elex Michaelson on CNN‘s Erin Burnett OutFront. “Celebrity contractor Jonathan Scott is showing us a way to build homes he says are virtually fireproof, earthquake-proof, tornado-proof, and hurricane-proof,” Michaelson noted at the top of the segment, during which Scott gave him a tour of the California property.

Michaelson went on to note that Deschanel’s family lived in their “100-year-old Spanish-style home” for 42 years before it was among the nearly 7,000 structures destroyed in the wildfire. Scott, for his part, got choked up while reflecting on the impact the fire had on the family.

“It’s emotional. It’s hard to see your loved one in pain, and everybody’s experiencing it. Everybody,” he said while beginning to tear up.

The segment went on to highlight how Scott is rebuilding the property using RSG-3D technology, something Scott is trying out for the very first time on the Deschanels’ home. “RSG is simply no wood. You’re building a structure that’s reinforced steel with a polystyrene core, and it’s concrete on the surface, both the inside and the outside,” he explained to Michaelson. “The entire structure, roof, walls, floors, everything is tied together, so it’s hyper-efficient, incredibly strong, and fireproof from both the inside and the outside.”

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According to Michaelson, the Deschanels’ home will look “almost identical” to its pre-fire condition once construction wraps up later this year. “It’s way faster, and the cost is about 10 percent more than the traditional, but I would never have to deal with anything again,” Scott said of the building method. “If anyone’s ever had a flood or termite or rot, it doesn’t affect this ’cause there’s nothing organic in it.”

Across the street from the family’s home, however, other damaged houses are being rebuilt with traditional wood. “I’m like, ‘Am I crazy?’ Either we’re ignorant, or we’re stupid,” Scott said in reaction to the construction projects.

Michaelson wrapped up the segment by noting that the Property Brothers star has no “financial stake” in the RSG-3D technology, but wants to raise awareness for safer home construction methods.

“Traditionally, if you wanted a fully hardened home, it was gonna be, like, twice the price. That’s not the case anymore,” Scott stated. “It’s just a matter of people don’t know about it.”

Erin Burnett OutFront, Weeknights, 7/6c, CNN