The couple purchased Pittaway's Cottage, in Buckingham St, in 2004. It is operated as a B&B, with breakfast optional.
The property dates back to about 1875, when it was built by James Healey, Arrowtown's first town clerk.
Occupiers over the following 55 years included James Fleming, a storeman for William Jenkins and later Reid and MacDowell, storekeepers at Macetown; James Webb, originally from England, employed in Arrowtown in local stores before starting business as a carpenter and undertaker; and William Stevenson.
Mr Stevenson, originally from Stronsay, Orkney Islands, farmed at the Crown Terrace.
He, along with John Dakers, was involved in the Bracken's Gully Sluicing Claim and married Catherine Pritchard, a niece of Robert Pritchard, founder of Arrowtown Stores.
However, the cottage took its name from George and Maude Pittaway, who lived in the home from 1930 until the late in 1940s.
George Pittaway, originally from Palmerston, Otago, a boot and shoe maker, and his wife, who was born in Arrowtown, moved in to the cottage in 1930.
The couple raised nine children there. One, Gordon Pittaway, lives in Wanaka, and is a frequent visitor.
Mr Finnie, an electrician by trade, said purchasing the cottage was ''the right move at the right time''.
The couple, who have been in the area 43 years, sold their lifestyle block and wanted to move into semi-retirement.
Pittaway's Cottage was on the market, having been extended by Alison and Gavin Porteous, who purchased it in 2002, with a view to operating it as visitor accommodation, but that had never occurred.
''We were looking after a friend's house down the street,'' Mr Finnie said.
''We walked in one door and out the other and said `We'll take it'.''
The property has two bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge and bathroom in the historic cottage and a new wing includes another two bedrooms, a lounge and dining area, kitchen and bathroom.
A separate one-bedroom studio apartment with an attic is also established on the property.
The couple operated the historic part of the cottage as visitor accommodation, while living in the extension.
But last year they decided it was time to move on and put the property on the market.
''It's just time not to have such a commitment,'' Mrs Finnie said.
Among their plans was to spend more time with family in New Zealand and overseas.
However, they would miss it, Mr Finnie said.
''It's just been a privilege to live here ... but I'm getting too creaky; we've got to make a move now.''
The property has a rateable value of $1.02 million.
