"Railways built hundreds of homes in New Zealand over the years ... in the North Island they actually had their own house-manufacturing factory.
"They’d pre-assemble everything, flat pack it and ship it on their own railway line."
The cottage was transitional style, which was a "mixture of styles", and on a large meadow section shaded by mature fruit trees which went past outbuildings down to a willow-canopied beach on the Clutha River.
Now nearing 80, Mr Pryor said he had restored "around four houses" over several decades, not as a developer but for personal satisfaction.
"I have no formal training in joinery or cabinet-making ... It’s just something I enjoy doing, and I enjoy it when it’s done. And after a while I get bored and start looking for something else to do," Mr Pryor said.
He picked up woodworking from his father and was pleased to find his hobby could sustain his lifestyle and even a small villa and bungalow renovation-material business.
He lived with his family in a home he built on Kawau Island for 20 years, and restored classic yachts.
The current project, which he expected would take about five years, appealed for both its scale and setting, Mr Pryor said.
"It made sense for me to downsize."
For him, the motivation remained simple, Mr Pryor said.
"It’s more the feeling of pleasure and accomplishment of transforming something at my own pace ... somewhere you can see the beauty of the timber."
