Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott’s N.Y.C. Home Went from ‘Abandoned 1980s Office Building’ to Stunning Abode — See Inside!

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott’s N.Y.C. Home Went from ‘Abandoned 1980s Office Building’ to Stunning Abode — See Inside!

The ‘New Girl’ star and the HGTV host opened the doors to their newly renovated, maximalist home in a video tour with ‘Architectural Digest’

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott for ‘Architectural Digest’.Credit : AD/Frank Frances

NEED TO KNOW

  • Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel offered fans an inside look at their newly renovated New York City home during an AD video tour
  • The actress and construction pro spent years transforming the space from something that looked like “an abandoned 1980s office building” into their maximalist dream home
  • The couple met while filming an episode of Carpool Karaoke together in August 2019, and they got engaged four years later in August 2023

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott are opening the doors to their New York City home!

The New Girl star, 45, and HGTV host, 47, took viewers around their elegant, maximalist abode in Downtown Manhattan in a video tour with Architectural Digest. During the walkthrough, they revealed that while the home looks stunning now after a full renovation, it was quite the eyesore when they first saw it in late 2019.

“This place looked absolutely nothing like the way it does now when we first looked at it. It had great ceilings, but that’s about it,” Deschanel said, joking that her initial reaction to the space was, “Ew, gross.”

Scott said the property “was totally raw and stripped down, like an abandoned 1980s office building” at first. The couple, who got engaged in August 2023, knew they’d have to give the abode “a lot of love,” so they partnered with New York City–based interior designer Young Huh to help them transform it.

While showing the outlet around their colorful kitchen equipped with light blue cabinetry and marble countertops, Deschanel said Huh really helped bring her love of maximalism to life in their city abode.

“I love maximalist design, and I love being able to mix a lot of prints and colors and things together. It takes a lot of skill, and that’s something she does so well,” she noted of Huh.

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The actress also praises her construction pro fiancé for being “incredible at maximizing space” in the build.

“He looks at a floor plan and knows where the problem is going to be,” she shared, noting how the flow from the kitchen to the living room “is so wonderful.”

In the “lush and pretty” space, Scott helped conceal his fiancée’s “pet peeve” of having a TV in the living room by hiding a drop-down screen in the ceiling. He says the room is “entertainment central,” and there’s even a hidden karaoke setup in the cabinetry that Deschanel recalls him spending “two days” to install.

“I couldn’t love this living room more, like it’s perfection to me,” she added.

The family room.AD/Frank Frances

Downstairs, there’s also a hidden screen in the family room, which is another space that got a major facelift during the renovation process. Scott recalled how there was a brick wall in the original build that was “begging for some sort of focal point,” so they took it and added an antique-looking fireplace.

Their home also features three private terraces that Deschanel noted took “a lot of work” to design.

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott on their terrace.AD/Frank Frances

“You don’t really get a space like this in most New York apartments. We love that we have three private terraces. It just feels like we can get that little slice of what we have in L.A.,” Scott added, referring to their primary residence in Los Angeles that they also spent years renovating.

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For their “peaceful” primary bedroom, the couple believed that designing the space was a group effort, as they both agreed on the blue tones for the color scheme that tie nicely into their bathroom.

“You’re very supportive of the things I like,” Deschanel told Scott, to which he explained to the camera, “Let’s get one thing straight. She has better taste than I do.”

The pair said they spent a “very long time” turning this space into another “dream home,” and they couldn’t be happier with the results.

“Being in this space for the first time was incredible,” Deschanel said. “I mean, it was like a Christmas present.”