The Block 2025 Episode 45 recap: Han and Can’s rock-filled backyard gets a big thumbs down from one judge – realestate.com.au

After a rollercoaster week, Emma and Ben took the win from Mat and Robby with a sneaky gnome and a copycat basement.

Despite denying they had a leprechaun all week – even when Han asked them outright as the scores were read out by host Scott Cam – the pair shocked everyone when they played their trump card to secure themselves the win.

Han and Can raised the (much-needed) $20,000 because they were the most budget-conscious, although that was largely due to hiring Han’s father to work as a Trojan for minimum wage.

They should have kept it in reserve for next week, when the winning front yard will bring three huge bonuses: a car to be auctioned along with the property, $50,000 off their home’s reserve, and a car to take home.

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Ben and Emma’s backyard with swimming pool, cabana and wine cellar under one house wing.

And, unlike this week, there will be no more gnomes to play for bonus points.

If it weren’t for the leprechaun, the victory would have gone to Mat and Robby, whose week went smoothly compared to most of their neighbors thanks to careful planning and winning a pickleball court and a huge stone fireplace to fill the space.

While judges Marty Fox, Darren Palmer, Shaynna Blaze and guest judge Dave Franklin swooned over the $50,000 stone fireplace (complete with sizzling steaks sitting on the hot coals), Marty complained that it was blocking the view from the house to the pool.

Ben and Emma’s pool and cabana.

Darren soon noticed that the pool was under video surveillance, so the owners could monitor what their children were up to via their phones.

“Technically it’s beautiful, but visually it’s so beautiful,” said Darren as he took in Robby and Mat’s bottle tree, vegetable gardens and native plantings.

It was the cabana that let the boys down and, despite having a sauna, felt bland compared to others.

Emma and Ben’s cabana received the seal of approval for the foursome. And Shaynna couldn’t help but muster some appreciation for the room’s superior style, noting that it had been her idea to swap out a couch for a sofa.

“The whole room is heaven,” she said.

Mat and Robby’s backyard included a $50,000 fireplace and a pickleball court.

Emma and Ben worked hard for their victory, toiling until the eleventh hour after a $20,000 concrete disaster held them back. Plus, their underground wine cellar was – ahem – “inspired” at the last minute by Robby and Mat’s efforts.

Judge Marty Fox appreciated the strategic addition of the basement.

“We’re taking part in a real estate competition,” he said approvingly.

“And this adds value for the buyers. They have seen the basement of House 5 and this is the perfect chess move.”

All four were impressed with Emma and Ben’s garden, which was landscaped to mimic the colors and textures of the surrounding shrubs. Little did they know that the garden earlier this week more closely mimicked the local skate park than its natural environment.

Ben and Emma have a built-in sauna in their cabana.

There were less positive things (and plants) to be found at Han and Can’s. Marty immediately felt that the Japanese-themed garden was a misstep.

“It has a lot of rocks and a lot of pavement where the kids could run around, they could trip and hurt themselves,” he said.

“It just feels harder.”

Even after Dave explained that the garden would soften once the vines and plants had time to grow, Marty awarded the girls his lowest score of the day, prompting Han to call the real estate agent a “butthead.”

She also wouldn’t have appreciated the feedback about the pool house. That proved Can was right when she urged Han to reverse her plans in favor of something more cost and time effective.

Mat and Robby’s cabana sauna was not as well integrated as Ben and Emma’s.

The couple had been bickering behind closed doors all week over Han’s persistent refusal to abandon her plan to plaster the interior walls of the cabana.

Ultimately, the pool house was considered an impractical waste of resources. Shaynna said the girls would have been better off decorating the room with a few yoga mats and a few towel hooks.

Conversely, all the fear of their fireplace paid off for Britt and Taz. Darren loved how the brickwork linked with the fireplace inside.

Homesick and frustrated by last-minute challenges, the couple found themselves in the doldrums this week.

Han and Can’s backyard with boulders and a swimming pool.

It hadn’t helped that Taz had missed his brother’s wedding to oversee the rebuilding of his outdoor chimney.

“You go three months without your kids. You miss birthdays, weddings, funerals… all of them, just for this. And you could walk away with nothing,” he sighed.

Although they didn’t get a win this week, the West Australians did receive a lot of positive feedback about their garden, which included a chicken coop and a vegetable garden, along with a range of wellness facilities.

Han and Can’s pool cabana with couch and TV that can be seen from both the pool and the couch.

Marty admired the succession of giant wooden arbors and said it was a “travel garden” that took people’s eyes from the deck to the pool. He wasn’t sold on the man-made creek, although he wondered if it would have been more practical to have more lawn space.

“It could be the only thing that deters a buyer,” he argued.

“I’ve never seen anyone jump online and say, I need to find a place with a big dry creek.”

Franklin stood on the fence with the creek and explained that it was great for durability and would photograph well.

Britt and Taz’s backyard.

While Darren and Shaynna both felt the creek was ‘the stuff of children’s dreams’, where children could fossilize in the creek bed for hours.

“This is what I remember from when I was a kid, but when I sell a house, families always say this is plenty of grass for my kids to run around on,” Darren shrugged.

The judges were still fixated on the fact that the indoor pilates studio was a major misstep for Britt and Taz, arguing that putting a couch in the cabana didn’t make up for the secondary living space that was missing from the main house.

Britt and Taz’s outdoor space with stone chimney,

“Why on earth do you have to stick to your guns and not put the pilates studio in your shed or here?” Marty said in annoyance.

There was universal praise for Sonny and Alicia’s work, which was considered textbook backyard. Darren enthused that it was “an elevation of the perfect Australian backyard”.

It was the cabana that really got all four going. With kitchenette, day bed and extra toilet.