After working 70 hour weeks, managing five-star resorts on remote islands in the Caribbean, Fiji, and Australia, it was time for a change of pace.
So when they established the aptly named business Partners in Grime, they envisaged it would involve themselves and a couple of staff members ''floating around and doing odd jobs''.
Eighteen months down the track, they had 15 full-time staff and were still working 70 hour weeks, Mrs Murphy laughed.
While working overseas, the couple experienced frustrations with the holiday home they owned in Queenstown.
They were constantly being hit with high charges for simple maintenance and cleaning jobs, along with the hassle of ''having to ring five different people to get your house sorted''.
''We'd receive an invoice for $75 for something as basic as changing a light bulb. We thought there must be a better way,'' she said.
Partners in Grime specialised in providing a one-stop-shop service for high-end holiday home management, maintenance and cleaning.
''Instead of having to call a cleaner, spa service man, window cleaner, gardener or an electrician for that simple light bulb change, we can do it all,'' she said.
They initially started targeting holiday homes and quickly worked out ''they all want you at the same time'' given the seasonal nature of the resort.
To give staff work during the quieter periods, they needed to pick up commercial work, which included cleaning TSS Earnslaw every morning, seven days a week.
They also did ''builders'' cleans and private home cleans, operating at the high end of the market, she said.
Last year, Mr and Mrs Murphy joined Jacqui Spice in partnership in Touch of Spice Property Management.
The couple have switched to an Austrian chemical-free cleaning system called ENJO, which had benefits for the staff, as well as clients, Mrs Murphy said.
With a background in hospitality, Mr and Mrs Murphy treated customers from a hospitality point of view and brought a ''really practical'' approach.
''When they ask us for something, we jump,'' she said. The couple, who met in Cairns where they were both dive instructors, were both ''pretty resilient'', having lived in such remote locations.
That included Australia's Orpheus Island, on Great Barrier Reef, where they were joint managers of the Orpheus Island Resort for more than five years.
Mrs Murphy said she missed the beach ''like crazy'' - '' I used to get up in the morning and throw myself in the ocean'' - but they loved the lifestyle in Queenstown.
