Film-maker Neville Presho lived in Queenstown between 1990 and 2000 working as a landscape gardener and as a projectionist for the Skyline Gondola.
"My house, on Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland, was burnt on January 14, 1993, and had completely disappeared by May 11, 1994," he said.
He bought the 150-year-old house in the early 1980s before he moved to New Zealand.
It overlooked the island's harbour and had panoramic views, he said.
However, it was burned in unexplained circumstances in early 1993.
Within nine months, a nearby hotel owner had demolished the house and built a car park on the land.
Mr Presho said he received a letter from Donegal County Council, in April 1994 saying he needed to do something about his house because it was ugly and a danger to the public.
So he travelled back to Ireland from Queenstown with his wife and children.
"We went back to Tory in early July. When we went out to the island, we discovered there was no house and where my house had been was now a hotel car park. It affected me quite badly. It was such a shock," Mr Presho said.
He fought for 16 years to have the case heard in court.
This month, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy ruled the hotel's owner, Patrick Doohan, should pay damages and costs of €46,000 to Mr Presho.
The court ruled in July that he was entitled to a new house or its equivalent market value.
Mr Presho was disappointed he did not get more.
"You couldn't build a decent hen coop for that," he said.
He said to build an equivalent house on Tory Island would cost €460,000 ($NZ945,042).
Lawyers for Mr Doohan, who owns the Ostan Thoraigh Comhlacht Teoranta hotel, told the court they would appeal the judgement.
Mr Presho now lives in Holywood, County Down.
He said he would love to return to Queenstown, where his children, aged 18, 16, 13, and 11 were born.
Mr Presho also lived on Stewart Island for three years where he fished for crayfish and was involved in building the island's power scheme.
