Why Jonathan Scott Says ‘I Lost My Mind’ After Receiving First Water Bill for L.A. Home with Zooey Deschanel

Jonathan Scott and fiancée Zooey Deschanel were in for a surprise when they received their first water bill for their Los Angeles home.

The Celebrity IOU host, 46, recalled the shocking piece of mail while speaking about affordable housing at the Inc. 5000 45th Annual Conference & Gala on Thursday, Oct. 17. He says a slight hiccup in his and Deschanel’s years-long home renovation is to blame for the hefty bill.

“I don’t know if anyone’s ever had a burst water pipe,” he said. “When Zooey and I bought our home in L.A. and we were renovating, my very first water bill was $5,500. I just about lost my mind. I was like, what’s happening?”

He continued, “Well, it was a leak. They were underground leaks. We had no idea — it was an old house.”

The couple purchased their historic 1938 house in June 2020 and went through an extensive renovation process to transform it into their “dream home” for themselves and Deschanel’s kids. The New Girl alum, 44, shares daughter Elsie Otter, 9, and son Charlie Wolf, 7, with ex-husband Jacob Pechenik.

Scott and Deschanel unveiled the completed remodel in June 2022 after nearly two years of work and they often show off the colorful design details and whimsical touches in the space on social media. 

During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in March 2023, Scott explained how he focused on construction during the process while Deschanel called the design shots. 

“She has incredible taste, so she picked a lot of the finishes and the wallpapers and things like that,” he said at the time. “I’ve never in my life trusted somebody else to make any design decisions in my house. So when we were doing it for our house, it was nerve-wracking, but she’s incredible.”

Along with designing their home together, Scott and Deschanel enjoy hosting events and parties there for their loved ones to enjoy. 

In December 2023, they transformed their home into a winter wonderland equipped with a snow machine, and now they’re planning something equally as over-the-top for Halloween this year, Scott said during the Inc. 5000 45th Annual Conference & Gala.

“We have 450 people coming over and I’m not joking. I built a full haunted house. Our daughter this year was like, she wants a real scary Halloween haunted house,” he said, referring to Elsie.

“And so I was like, ‘Oh, my love language.’ And so I’ve built a real haunted house with all these animatronics. We have the bouncy and the dance floor with a DJ, and it’s pretty well done.”

He added, “Zooey and I discovered if we weren’t doing film or television, we would totally be event planners because we love throwing parties.”

The duo first met while filming an episode of Carpool Karaoke with Scott’s twin brother Drew and Deschanel’s sister Emily in 2019 and sparks flew.

They got engaged during a family trip to Scotland in August 2023, PEOPLE exclusively revealed, after four years of dating and are currently planning their wedding, though they’ve kept a lid on the details so far.