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The Block 2023: See all the photos from inside Steph and Gian's house
Steph and Gian's finished off their journey on The Block strong.
Steph and Gian took out the top prize on The Block 2023, selling their house for an eye-watering $5,000,000. This earned them a profit of $1,650,000 and an extra $100,000 in prize money.
Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle following the auction, Steph admitted she was “overwhelmed” with the amount of money being bid.
“The Block has changed our lives!” she declared.
“Adrian Portelli is incredible,” Gian added. “That jump was so unexpected.”
Take a look at their finished product, week-by-week, below.
Week 12 - Front yard and facade
Steph and Gian chose to buy Kyle and Leslie’s gnome to close out the final week of The Block, and to give them the best chance for the car. Unfortunately, they fell short, however, the judges still loved the finished product and their house overall.
Points: 37.5
Judges comments:
“This is an absolute show-stopper. This is just incredible.” - Marty.
“This just has all the feels. You walk in and it has this sense of air, sense of grandeur, sense of texture” - Shaynna.
“The one thing I love is that they’ve used that old-school pebble so it gives that old charm” - Dave.
“Everything about it just says warm, inviting, come and see me” - Shaynna.
“This is something I get really excited about. I’m excited because you know what, we’ve got something for every season in this garden” - Dave on the planting.
“Really good size garage” - Shaynna.
“Paint the floor at least” - Marty on the garage floor.
“How good is this” - Marty on their entryway.
“In a light bright, massive big gorgeous house… this entry isn’t bright and light and inviting, it’s actually really quite dark” - Darren.
“We;ve just come from one of the best gardens on The Block… you want to see a bit of that front yard” - Dave.
“It just is so unique, it’s so finessed and a lot of people in the marketplace are paying big bucks for this type of finish…I think this home has a lot of soul” - Marty.
Week 11 - Backyard and pool
After another emotional week for Steph and Gian with the passing of Gian’s grandfather, they were hoping to blow the judges away. The couple had the biggest backyard space on The Block this year, and also the biggest budget. The couple threw a big chunk of change at the space to create three distinct ‘zones’ throughout the backyard and the judges absolutely loved it.
Points: 38
Spend: $71,704
Judges comments:
“What an amazing add-on to this house”- Darren on the decking space.
“I wanna swear. I want to swear because this is so f-ing good!” - Shaynna.
“The tree that they’ve got, the planting, the pool” - Marty.
“With these blinds, with this table, problem solved. If there was ever a debate, this debate is over” - on whether the couple should have changed the layout to move the kitchen.
“I feel like I’m on a rooftop in Beverly Hills, it feels elegant, it feels classy” - Shaynna.
“This is a family home, this is ticking all the boxes for this location and for particularly this price point” - Marty.
“This is transformative for the suburb” - Marty.
“This has been well thought out, this is a gardeners garden” - Dave.
“This is a five-bidder plus auction… I can categorically say you would have five plus bidders in two weeks time. That’s how good of a product this is” - Marty.
“I would say this is absolutely the perfect backyard” - Darren.
Week 10 - Upstairs bathroom and redo room
Steph and Gian took on their ‘jack and jill’ bathroom, and decided to redo their master ensuite that judge Marty Fox ‘hated.’ And for them this week was described as “action packed.” The changes they made to their master ensuite made the judges feel very comfortable, though the lack of face-level storage was a sticking point.
Points: 26
Spend: $28,603
Judges comments:
“I love it” - Neale on the redo bathroom.
“This venetian plaster just makes it sing… this feels like I am in some incredible high-end resort day spa” - Shaynna.
“To not have face-level storage does not make sense to me” - Shaynna.
“This beautiful marble, the same colour vanity as what we just saw in the new ensuite… the texture in the tiles, the texture in the venetian tiles” - Shaynna.
“This is glorious, it’s really, really impressive” - Darren.
“It’s the most luxurious kids bathroom I’ve ever seen… but they’ve got a eye on when the kids are no longer kids” - Neale.
“How do you think the kids are going to go with that glass door” - Shaynna.
“Yes mood lighting is important, but you’ve got to have functional lighting, especially when you’ve got kids” - Shaynna.
After coming last in master ensuite week, the couple felt a lot of pressure to smash the kids' rooms out of the park.
After seeking a lot of advice from everyone on The Block, boy did Steph and Gian deliver. The judges scored them a perfect week, loving every aspect of the two rooms they created.
Points: 30
Spend: $25,580
Judges comments:
“You can just see the thought that has been put into this” - Marty.
“Diamonds are made under pressure, this is one shimmering diamond. This is probably the most sophisticated kids' bedroom we’ve seen thus far, it is absolutely chic as heck”- Darren.
“It has the consistency, the architectural detailing, the way that they’ve done their feature lighting in most rooms, their colour palette. They have nailed this room” - Marty.
“They’ve done it again”- Marty upon entering the second room.
“I love this room so much” - Darren.
Week 8 - Master Ensuite
It was a week of winning for Steph and Gian, taking out the massive $50,000 Domain challenge after receiving the most votes from potential buyers. However, putting too much of their time and energy into the challenge, cost them when it came to their master ensuite. The judges were not a fan of their design choices or the amount of space the room offered.
Points: 21
Spend: $31,753
Judges comments:
“There is a definite consistent aesthetic” - Shaynna.
“I love this wall paneling” - Darren.
“I’ve been on the Steph and Gian train for a long time and I’m jumping off at this stop… It’s cold, it’s harsh… I hate it, I honestly feel like I’m in a quarantine facility” - Marty.
“It lacks soul… It just doesn’t work, it doesn’t feel right” - Shaynna.
“This doesn’t function as well as it should” - Darren.
Week 7 - Kitchen and Laundry
Kitchen week was crunch time for Steph and Gian, after they made the bold move to swap the location of their existing kitchen back in week two. As the overall look came together, changing the location of the kitchen did pay off with the judges, who loved the aesthetic. However, the good news ended there. All three of them had issues with the kitchen’s functionality. With minimal storage space in the actual kitchen, having pots and plates in the butler’s pantry did not sit well with the judges.
Points: 22
Spend: $25,304
Judges comments:
“I keep thinking in my mind she’s only 26, in 10 years she‘s going to be phenomenal with all that life experience behind her” - Shaynna on Steph’s design skills.
“This marble top is divine…I can’t knock one aesthetic look” - Shaynna.
“Aesthetically it’s absolutely exquisite” - Neale.
“It’s doing all of the functional work that the main kitchen should be doing” - Darren on the butler’s pantry.
“Beautifully dysfunctional” - Neale.
Week 6 - Master bedroom and walk-in robe
Steph and Gian were challenged with the biggest master bedroom and walk-in robe in the history of The Block, and the week was ‘a lot’ for them. It certainly paid off, with the winning rooms of the week, the size and use of the space blew the judges away.
Points: 29 - WINNER
Spend: $44,064
Judge’s comments:
“Some people don’t have kitchen island benches as big as this” - Shaynna on the island in their walk-in robe.
“This could be put in any home at $20 million plus”- Marty on their walk-in robe.
“Look at the size of this” - Marty on the master bedroom.
“Cathedral-like” - Darren.
“This is hot” - Shaynna.
Week 5 - Living and Dining
The Block's Steph and Gian chose to change the layout of their house, putting their dining room where the architect proposed the kitchen should be. Tensions were running high throughout the week, and there was a lot to do in the final hours of the week, but they made it to the finish line.
The judges were worried about the couple’s floor plan change, and believe only time will tell for them if it was the right choice.
Points: 25 ½
Spend: $31,739
Judges comments:
“Steph is clearly flexing her muscles as an architect.”
“Why would you necessarily do this?” - Neale.
“She has over-styled this, I don’t understand” - Shaynna.
“There’s too much of everything, it’s feeling almost like a retail space here. Are we in a home or are we in a store?” - Neale.
“I like almost everything about this” - Darren on the living room.
Week 4 - Downstairs Bathroom
After winning two weeks in a row of The Block 2023, Steph and Gian had a 'rollercoaster' of a week. They decided to do a powder room rather than including a shower. The 'wow-factor' of their stone vanity really was the talking piece of the room, but the layout was a sticking point because of the placement of the toilet.
Points: 25
Spend: $24,854
Judges comments:
"Wow look at that... that is off the charts" - Shaynna on the stone vanity.
"It's a really interesting mix of something you think is more traditional farmhouse-y with something that's super classy and contemporary"- Darren.
Week 3 - Work From Home
Points: 26.5
Spend: $22,381
Judges comments: "I love the commitment to the beams, I'm sold on them... It's pretty amazing." - Shaynna
"I'm not sold, they're [the beams] very obtrusive, it feels like it brings the ceiling lower." - Darren
"Everything else is cracking" - Darren.
"They're just absolutely on top of their game" - Marty.
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Week 2 - Guest Bedroom
Points: 24.5
Spend: $22,921
Judges comments:
"For more it works really well as a guest bedroom, somebody staying in this house for a night or two would love to be in here...This is the smallest room by a mile, but yet look how good we feel in it" - Marty.
"I feel like she has put the right level of architect, the right level of contestant and the right level of warmth and understanding the market... I love it"- Shaynna.
Week 1 - Guest Bathroom
Points: 20.5.
Spend: $21,895
Judges comments:
"Love that vanity, love the basin, love the tap choice," Darren said. However he was not impressed by the beams across the ceiling. "Those beams, nup, no, it's a dogs breakfast, it's a mess, it's at all different levels. I know it's supposed to look rustic, but it doesn't look rustic, it looks unfinished."
"A buyer will not walk in here and go 'I love these old rustic beams'" - Marty
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