The Summerhill couple say they are both in their 80s so it is time to sell their house and move to a nursing home at Port Sorell.

They were married in Burnie on February 26, 1944 and lived their married life in Launceston.

Mr Howell said he bought their Peel St house block in 1951 for £165 and he built their garage, which they lived in for a few years until their house was built.

He said he used recycled material, including convict bricks, complete with the telltale thumb prints.

The house is adorned with penguin figurines, with Mrs Howell estimating she has between 100-200 of them.

"They are gorgeous, it's just the way they look and the way they walk," she said of penguins.

"I reckon they are the most gorgeous animals on this Earth."

Mr Howell said a life highlight was helping to get the late Lance Barnard elected as the Federal Labor member for Bass in 1953.

Mr Barnard became Deputy Prime Minister and was credited with running the nation with Gough Whitlam for a short time after the 1972 Labor victory.

Mr Howell, who was the secretary of Labor's Bass divisional council, said Mr Barnard was great at maths and figures and a "hell of a nice bloke".