Not many people can say they live in a house built by their great-great-great grandfather, but Andy Morison of Peterborough and his sons, Nate and Aaron, are the sixth and seventh generation of Morisons to live at Terrace Hill Farm on Old Jaffrey Road. Except for a brief period in the early 1800s, the house has been in the family the whole time. 

"Explaining to new friends that the family home dates to the 18th century is always an interesting conversation. It's easy to take the character and history of a place like this for granted after growing up here,” said Nate Morison, 24. “However, the more time I spend outside of New England, the more I have come to appreciate those things in addition to the responsibility of being a caretaker of the property for generations to come. I've always considered Terrace Hill to be a special place, with that feeling rooted in fond childhood memories. I probably would not have some of the passions I do today if not for being raised here.”

Terrace Hill Farm was built by Robert Morison, in 1792. The farm, surrounded by fields,  takes its name from the steep ledge of land behind the house. Robert was a son of Thomas Morison, who is credited with being the first European settler in Peterborough; a state historic marker next to Noone Falls states that Thomas Morison built the first (Colonial) structure in town.

Robert Morison had eight children, most of whom died in childhood. His son Nathaniel was a prominent businessman who conducted business up and down the East Coast, including owning a textile business in Peterborough.

In the early 1819, Nathaniel Morison made a trip  around the South to collect on debts. While he was away, Nathaniel wrote home that he had just closed a deal to supply water to the city of Natchez, Miss., via a network of new lead pipes. But shortly after, while he was still Mississippi, Nathaniel Morison contracted yellow fever and died. 

News of Nathaniel’s death took months to reach Peterborough, where his wife, Mary Ann, was home with seven children. After a messenger came to the Morison store with news of Nathaniel’s death,  the sheriff came and took “everything the law would permit them to take,”  as Nathaniel had died without being able to collect on the debts owed the family.

Mary Ann moved the family to the rooms over the Morison textile store, which was located across the Contoocook River from Noone Falls. Her oldest daughter, Eliza, was responsible for her six siblings, while Mary Ann ran the business. The Morisons hung on, and in 1852, Horace Morison, a son of Mary Ann and Nathaniel, was able to purchase Terrace Hill Farm back, and the house has remained in the family ever since. 

A family history recounts how the four sons of Horace Morison walked from Peterborough to Exeter Academy each fall to attend school – a distance of 60 miles, taken over several days. The Peterborough area is still full of Morison cousins and descendants of multiple branches of the family. The Brick House, on Morison Road, was built by descendants of one of Nathaniel’s siblings, and the Morison name pops up throughout town history. 

Andy’s parents moved to Terrace Hill Farm full-time in 1978 and winterized the house, which had been used as a summer house for generations of Morisons. The four Morison siblings of Andy’s generation grew up in the house, and Andy and his twin brother Mike attended ConVal.  

Andy’s grandmother, Arria Frazer Cotton Morison, did a major renovation of the house in 1917, adding a third floor over the back ell of the house, a basement and the unusual back-to-back fireplaces in the formal living room. Arria Morison also started a sausage business with Terrace Hill Farm pigs, and her handwritten recipe for sausage hangs in the laundry room, along with ads for Terrace Hill Farm Sausage.

Andy remembers his mother’s prodigious gardening. The wide lawn to the south has a border of peonies in early summer, and the Terrace Hill Farm vegetable garden has produced in the same spot for generations. The farm also includes springs and wetlands. 

Andy moved his own family back to Terrace Hill Farm a few years after his father, another Horace Morison, died in 2009. The family added some modern renovations, including a new laundry room, a family room and a mud room off the kitchen. Andy credits his former wife, Elizabeth, with the Empire-style interior design, incorporating period furniture, carefully researched paint colors and heirloom family items. 

In 2012, Mike Morison moved back from Chicago to settle in Peterborough with his family. Mike and his wife Gloria built a new home on adjacent property, putting the five youngest Morison cousins within walking distance of one another, via trails through the woods. 

The house has had its own historic events since Andy and his family moved in. In spring 2013, the original barn burned to the ground, possibly caused by a heat lamp for chicks, and the family worked with architect Sheldon Pennoyer to create an exact reconstruction. The family has had livestock at the house ever since, and Andy, Nate and Aaron currently care for a flock of sheep. 

“We were here every summer from the time we were tiny; we all just have really fond memories,” said Mike Morison. “We’re pretty lucky.”

“It was pretty great getting to grow up in a house with so much family history,” Andy said. “It’s really special, and we’re very grateful to still be here.”