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The Hunters Hill home of the late Alice Arnott Oppen, OAM, the great-granddaughter of the founder of Arnott’s biscuits, William Arnott, is for sale with a price guide of $6.9 million.
It’s the first time the heritage-listed property has been offered to the market since Alice and her late husband, merchant navy officer Conrad Oppen, bought it in the 1960s. The address is now in the names of their sons, Evan and William Oppen.
One lot was purchased by the couple for $28,000 in 1967, and an adjacent lot for $63,000 in 1976, records show, with the stone cottages amalgamated into a five-bedroom, three-bathroom residence in 1978.
The sandstone abode is on a 1484-square-metre parcel with two street frontages and is in its original condition, apart from a lick of paint to get it ready for sale. There are high ceilings, polished floorboards, whitewashed walls, curved archways and a wraparound balcony.
Alice, who passed away aged 85 in 2024, served on the Arnott’s company board in the 1990s and advocated for it to remain an Australian-owned company. It is now foreign-owned.
She was also a feminist and philanthropist, having in 2006 founded the Women’s Plans Foundation, which she chaired until 2023. The foundation raises funds for family planning as an integral part of overseas aid programs, according to its website.
An auction has been scheduled for Saturday, May 30, and the listing agents are Nicholas McEvoy and Alessandro Bandiera of BresicWhitney Hunters Hill.
Skincare king lists Whale Beach home
The owner of skincare company Ella Baché, John Hallas, has put his charming Whale Beach home on the market with a price guide of $5.5 million.
Hallas handed over the reins to his daughter, Pippa Hallas, who is now the chief executive officer, and he has been enjoying life as an artist, recently spending 15 months driving around the country.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom blue beach house last traded for $800,000 in 1990, records show, and offers breathtaking ocean views from the upper deck.
Hallas told this masthead that while “the foundations are the same and a style of the time”, he made “some changes, including opening the property up”.
The coastal retreat has a dual-level design and is in a secluded location behind a series of sandstone steps. There are timber floors, high angular ceilings and a retro-style gas kitchen with a breakfast bar.
Hallas said of his decision to sell that “life is a revolving door” and he now has “other ambitions that don’t include the property any more” after living there for some decades.
He enjoyed relaxing on the decks and being “seduced by the magic of the ocean”.
Ella Baché is a family-owned skincare company with over 150 salons across Australia, according to its website.
The company was founded by cosmetic chemist Madame Ella Baché in Paris in 1936 and her cousin-in-law, Edith Hallas (John’s mother), joined the business and brought the brand to Australia in 1954. John built the brand into a household name before handing over the reins to his daughter Pippa in 2010.
BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach are handling the campaign for the Whale Beach home.
Price guide now set
This masthead exclusively revealed in February that fashion designer Rebecca Vallance of the eponymous brand and her financier husband, David Gasan, were selling their glamorous Vaucluse mansion. There was a strict no price guide at the time, according to Biller Property’s Paul Biller and Ben Torban.
However, a price guide has since been set, with the home guiding $35 million, and Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks and Thomas Popple have been brought on board as well.
Vallance and Gasan purchased a two-storey property on the site for $4.45 million in 2018, records show, and knocked it down to make way for a palatial multi-level build with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms by architecture firm Archer Design.
The property offers Sydney Harbour views and is equipped with three kitchens and a bar, a private terrace for the main bedroom, pool, wood-fired pizza oven and manicured gardens. There is a leisure wing with a cinema, library, wine cellar, gym, infrared sauna and ice bath.
Interiors feature coffered ceilings, chandeliers, marble, natural stone bathrooms, heated towel rails and underfloor heating.
Ballarat-born Vallance launched her label in 2011 and is now stocked in leading international department stores. Her ultra-feminine designs and slim-cut suits range from around $500 to $1000 and are worn by celebrities and royalty.
Gasan is a general partner at Apta Group and has a background in private equity, venture capital and corporate advisory. He wed Vallance in a glamorous ceremony in 2010 in Melbourne’s South Yarra.
All agents are accepting expressions of interest for the property.
