Exclusive Brethren’s leading family expected to cop a loss on $9.5m Dural estate

Sydney Morning Herald/June 9, 2024

By Lucy Macken

The leading family behind the fundamentalist Exclusive Brethren sect were always going to struggle to make a profit on the sale of their luxury Dural weekender given they purchased it for what local agents say was a top price of $9.5 million in 2022.

But at least they scored a buyer on Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the closed nature of the fundamentalist church, the sale price remains a tightly guarded secret by the Manor Real Estate agency and listing agent William Brush.

Gareth Hales, the son of the church’s global leader Bruce D. Hales, spent at least $10.1 million on the property given his purchase had incurred almost $600,000 in stamp duty costs alone.

Brush listed it six weeks ago with a guide of $9 million to $9.5 million, and local agents anticipate it sold for less than that. Settlement will reveal the exact result.

According to former members of the sect, now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, Hales’s purchase of the two-hectare estate caused consternation within the church because its leadership used to espouse a doctrine of a simple and somewhat humble life, rather than a portfolio of statement homes and trophy estates.

The Dural property included a five-bedroom house with a marble foyer, bespoke home theatre, billiard room with a wet bar, flood-lit tennis court, fire pit and a swimming pool.

Hales jnr, head of global specialist sourcing and supply company Sante Group, and his brother Charles sold their office design firm Unispace for $300 million in 2021 to investment firm PAG Asia Capital.

The sale comes just months after the tax office conducted a raid on the global headquarters of a business run by some members of the fundamentalist Christian sect.

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