Exclusive Brethren family smash Epping record buying $7.5 million house

The family of Exclusive Brethren world leader Bruce D. Hales have emerged as the record $7.5 million buyers of a house in Epping.

The sale of the 1980s-built house on a vast 4116 square metres stunned locals earlier this year because the result was well above the $6 million guide, took just 10 days to sell and smashed local house price records by $1.75 million.

The 4116 square metre property last traded in 1983 for $235,000.Credit:

The buyer remained a tightly kept secret until settlement revealed it was purchased by Nerolie Hales, wife of Ox Tools global chief Dean Hales, who is the son of Hales Snr, known by his congregation as the Elect Vessel of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, previously called the Exclusive Brethren.

Dean Hales is the global chief executive of hand tools manufacturer Ox Tools.Credit: LinkedIn

No finance was required on the purchase.

The wealthy Hales family are well-known locals who have long shown a penchant for some of the largest and most expensive estates in Epping and Eastwood.

The five-bedroom, three-bathoom house was built in the mid-1980s and sits on one of the suburb’s largest privately held parcels.Credit:

Hales senior’s brother Stephen Hales set an Epping record of $4 million in 2016 when he bought the heritage Blairgowrie mansion, and that was topped in late 2019 when Cameron and Rochelle Hales bought a six-bedroom mansion up the road for $5.75 million.

Dean and Nerolie are moving from Eastwood, where brothers Gareth and Charles, who sold their office design firm Unispace last year for $300 million, live in the same street as family patriarch Bruce Hales.

Bruce D. Hales is the global leader of the 50,000-strong Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

The fundamentalist church – once dubbed an “extremist cult” by former prime minister Kevin Rudd – has been the subject of controversy in recent decades given its doctrine of “separation” whereby members are discouraged from forming friendships with outsiders under threat of excommunication. Formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren, the church does not allow members to vote, although leaders are politically connected, Liberal Party donors and have lobbied on behalf of conservative causes.

At the time the Epping property sold it was reported the buyer planned to create a family compound, rather than redevelop the estate, but those plans remain speculative given no comment from the Hales family.

Neighbourly billionaire

Software billionaire Richard White has proven to be a lucrative neighbour, at least to those few home owners who live closest to his holiday retreat near Berry on the South Coast.

The WiseTech Global founder has quietly picked up another property in the Beaumont hinterland, making it four properties he owns in one line and creating a private land parcel of 37 hectares.

The former guitar technician for AC/DC most recently purchased a three-bedroom house on 2.6 hectares for $3.1 million, taking his total outlay locally to more than $11.5 million.

WiseTech’s Richard White has bought another Beaumont property.Credit: Natalie Boog

White’s interest locally goes back to early 2017 when he bought the holiday home “Cooinda” for $2.65 million, adding next door a year later for $2.8 million and in 2020 buying a 32-hectare property adjoining the Cambewarra Range Nature Reserve for almost $3 million.

White’s penchant for his neighbours’ real estate is unlikely to be missed by the more money-minded folk of Palm Beach, where he bought a hilltop residence last month for a record $27.5 million.

Myer heir touches down

Will Myer, of Melbourne’s wealthy Myer retail family, has bought a matrimonial home with his wife Sarah for $4.8 million in Woollahra.

The Federation house in Woollahra sold for $4.8 million to William and Sarah Myer.

The couple’s purchase of the freestanding, Federation house comes a year after they tied the knot at the Myer family’s landmark Toorak estate, Cranlana House, that has been held by the family for more than a century.

Myer, the grandson of Myer founder Sidney Myer, is head of analytics at Bloomberg, and Sarah Myer was last seen on the reality television hit show Luxe Listings thanks to her new gig at the local real estate shop the Rubinstein Group.

Banking on the Parramatta River

ANZ’s co-head of global fixed income Rakesh Jampala and his wife Vasudha have emerged as the $15.5 million buyers of Drummoyne’s historic Shalimar estate.

The Drummoyne residence Shalimar is expected to be a major renovation job for the new owners.

The couple’s purchase ends 84 years ownership by the McNiven family, owners of what was once Australia’s largest ice-cream manufacturer, and comes amid expectations of a large-scale renovation by the Jampalas.

Jampala, one of the founding members of test cricket supporters Swami Army, is coming from nearby Henley where the couple’s riverfront home sold in May for $8.4 million.