The Block 2025 Episode 45 recap: Han and Can’s rock-filled backyard gets big thumbs down from one judge

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After a rollercoaster week, Emma and Ben snatched victory from Mat and Robby with a sneaky gnome and a copycat cellar.

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

Han and Can took out the (much needed) $20,000 for being the most budget savvy though that was largely thanks to hiring Han’s dad to work like a Trojan for minimum wage.

They should have held him in reserve for next week when the winning front yard will secure three massive bonuses: a car to auction with the property, $50,000 off the reserve of their house and a car to take home.

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

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

If not for the gnome, the win would have gone to Mat and Robby whose week had been smooth sailing compared to most of their neighbours thanks to careful forward planning and winning themselves a pickleball court and a huge stone fireplace to fill out 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 obscured the view from the house to the pool.

Ben and Emma’s pool and cabana.

Darren quickly noted that the pool was under video surveillance so that owners could keep track of what their children were up to via their phones instead.

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

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

Emma and Ben’s cabana got the seal of approval for the foursome. And Shaynna couldn’t help but take a bit of credit for the room’s superior styling, pointing out the fact it had been her idea to trade a couch for a bench.

“The whole space 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 win, toiling right up to the eleventh hour after a $20,000 concreting disaster set them back. Plus, there was their last-minute underground wine cellar – ahem – “inspired” by Robby and Mat’s efforts.

Judge Marty Fox appreciated the strategic addition of the cellar.

“We are in a real estate competition,” he said approvingly.

“And this is adding value to the buyers. They have seen House 5’s cellar and this is the perfect chess move.”

All four were impressed by Emma and Ben’s garden which had been created to mimic the colours and textures of the bush surrounding it. Little did they know that earlier in the week the garden did a better job at mimicking the local skate park than the natural environs.

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

There were less positives (and plants) to be found over at Han and Can’s. Marty instantly felt the Japanese themed garden was a misstep.

“It has a lot of rock and a lot of paving for the kids to run around they could trip and hurt themselves,” he said.

“It just has a harsher feel.”

Even after Dave explained that the garden would be softened once the creepers and plants were given time to grow, Marty awarded the girls his lowest score of the day, prompting Han to declare the real estate agent a “butthead”.

She wouldn’t have appreciated the feedback on the pool house either. Which proved Can was right for urging Han to scale back on her plans in favour of something more cost and time effective.

Mat and Robby’s pool cabana sauna wasn’t a well integrated as Ben and Emma’s.

The couple had been bickering behind closed doors all week because of Han’s steadfast refusal to let go of her plan to render the interior walls of the cabana.

In the end the pool house was deemed an impractical waste of resources. Shaynna said the girls would have been better off decking the room out with a couple of yoga mats and some towel hooks.

Conversely, all the angst over their fireplace paid off for Britt and Taz. Darren loved how its stonework created a link to the fireplace inside.

Homesick and frustrated by last minute challenges, the couple have been down in the dumps this week.

Han and Can’s backyard with boulders and pool.

It hadn’t helped that Taz was missing his brother’s wedding to supervise the rebuilding of his outdoor chimney.

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

While they didn’t score a win this week, The West Australians did get plenty of positive feedback for their garden which featured a chicken coop and veggie garden along with a suite of wellness features.

Han and Can’s pool cabana with couch and TV that can neither be seen from the pool nor the couch.

Admiring the succession of giant wooden arbours, Marty said it was a “journey garden” that led people’s gaze from the deck to the pool. He wasn’t sold on the man-made creek though wondering whether it would have been more practical to have more lawn space.

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

“I have never seen anyone jump online and say, I have got to find somewhere with a big dry creek.”

Franklin was on the fence with the creek, explaining that it was great for sustainability and would photograph well.

Britt and Taz’s backyard area.

While Darren and Shaynna both felt the creek was the “stuff of childhood dreams”, where kids could spend hours fossicking in the creek bed.

“It’s the thing I remember from when I was a kid but selling a house, families always say is this enough lawn for my kids to run around on,” Darren shrugged.

The judges were still fixated on the indoor pilates studio being a major misstep for Britt and Taz, arguing that putting a couch in the cabana did not make up for the second living space that was missing inside the main house.

Britt and Taz’s outdoor area with stone chimney,

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

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

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