Project people are the Jenkinses, but no project has been more satisfying for the couple than the restoration of their historic Arrowtown convent home.
Alan and Kath Jenkins moved from Auckland eight years ago, after holidaying in Arrowtown for several years.
"We used to holiday down here and loved it. One day, we just said, 'Why are we going back?
"We love it down here'," Mrs Jenkins said.
Suckers for punishment, the couple did not just want to buy and move in, they wanted something they could work at and the old church convent on Merioneth St was just the challenge they wanted.
"It was quite run-down. The state of it was just appalling," she said.
"We wanted a project and had previously restored villas, something with a bit of history and character," he said.
The cottage certainly had the history. The cottage was built in the early 1870s and was home to Arrowtown's only lawyer at the time, Henry Stratford. It was bought by the Catholic Church in the 1890s and used as a home for nuns until the 1940s.
The Church had added two bedrooms on the northern side of the house and a music room. The original rooms remain and a lot of the original material and stone is still intact.
In 2004, the couple bought the property and have since added to it, built around it and made the old cottage into a home.
"It was just crying out for a restoration," she said.
"We thought it would be a shame if it didn't last another 100 years."
Mr Jenkins said in building and restoring the cottage they had tried to maintain the integrity of the house and keep things simple, which had meant using original materials, such as the old schist, as well as replicating the old materials.
The tongue-and-groove timbers used originally were hard to find, so the Jenkinses had boards made to fit the purpose.
Mr Jenkins would often join in with the labouring, which he said was one of the most satisfying parts.
"I was the fittest I'd been in years."
"I would get a text from him saying, 'Come home, I've found something exciting'," Mrs Jenkins said.
While restoring six years ago, they found a crucifix in the lining of one of the bedroom closets.
This is now on display, but in order to leave something for the next home owners, they placed an Otago Daily Times dated August 1, 2006, in its place.
"I'm not sure what was in the news that day, but it would be interesting for whoever finds it," Mr Jenkins said.
Although the project was for themselves, the home had won an award from the Institute of Architects in 2006, appeared in NZ House and Garden magazine in 2009 and in March was one of 13 homes in the area in the Cancer Society show home fundraiser.
Since they met and married 45 years ago, they have always taken on projects.
One of their first was a villa in Devonport, Auckland, which took them 20 years to restore, and they are both certain this will not be their last.
"We knew it would be a big project and knew there was another project in us. In fact, I still think there is another project in us."
In a throwaway society, Mr Jenkins said he and his wife think it is important to preserve.
"I feel that you're only custodians.
"You should look after things.
"We have a responsibility to look after it. It is the same with anything that comes into your hands."
