The first thing most people notice when they drive by Terry Reeves’ and David Baum’s house on Cunningham Pond Road in Peterborough is the porch. The shingle-style home’s wide, screened-in porch overlooks the lake, promising summer afternoons in the shade. 

“It is definitely our favorite spot,” Reeves said. 

The housed is perched on the western shoreline of Cunningham Pond, with a view across the water to the town beach, the conserved shoreline on the east side and the saddle of North Pack Mountain. The property also includes a grandfathered floating dock anchored just off the lakefront below the house.

Reeves and Baum, who married in Peterborough in 1996 and raised their family in the town, have lived in several different homes in Peterborough. By coincidence, they have bought two homes previously lived in by the artist Sue Callihan and her husband, Jim. 

“We joke that we just follow them around, and next we’ll be in Hancock,” Reeves said. 

In 2018, Reeves and Baum, who lived in a farm adjacent to the Fremont land on Old Jaffrey Road in Peterborough for 24 years, began to talk about downsizing. They had visited the Callihans’ home on Cunningham Pond, and when Jim Callihan told Baum they were going to put the house on the market, Reeves and Baum jumped at the opportunity.

“We had told Sue and Jim, if they ever wanted to sell the house, please let us know,” Reeves recalled. 

“We actually had a list of the things we would want in a dream house,” Baum said. “My list had a shingled house, an outdoor shower, a water view and a screened-in porch, which were all things we could not add to the Old Jaffrey Road house. This house literally had everything we had ever wanted.” 

Reeves says they found out the house was going on the market on a Thursday and signed papers on Friday. 

The house on Cunningham Pond was originally built as a gentlemen’s fishing club, with the living and upstairs bedroom dating back to the original structure. According to Baum and Reeves, the Callihans added a garage with an upstairs apartment and the artist studio, which Baum now uses as his home office. Baum and Reeves have not not made major changes to the house, thanks to the Callahans’ renovations to the property. 

“The biggest changes we have made have been in the garden. This a completely different garden from our garden on Old Jaffrey Road, which was surrounded by meadows. This is a woodland garden; it’s enclosed, with a very different feel to it. It’s integrated with the pond, with the woodlands,” Baum said. “Our last garden taught us about scale, and this garden is teaching us about working in a contained space.”

Reeves notes that a lot of what they did was removal.

“We probably took out two (hundred) to 300 shrubs,” she said. 

Baum and Reeves credit hardscape designer Ron Higgins with creating the stonework, including patios and a curved retaining wall around the front lawn.

When they moved out of the larger house on Old Jaffrey Road, Reeves and Baum had a lot of furniture to get rid of, but instead of having a yard sale, they invited people to come and take what they needed and donate to the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter instead of paying for the furniture.

“There were a lot of young couples who needed a sofa or tables and chairs, and we raised several thousand dollars for MATS,” Reeves said. 

Inside, the house is decorated with art and items from around the world, reflecting Baum’s career as an international “conversation architect,” which takes him to all corners of the globe. Currently, he is working with the Dalai Lama, and still travels frequently.

Both Reeves and Baum say the only slight drawback to their new house is the lack of parking, as the couple hosts frequent community events and fundraisers.

“At our old house, we hosted a future president of the United States and 1,500 people, no problem,” Baum said, “Parking was never an issue because we had the field.”

Reeves said her only regret at leaving the Old Jaffrey Road house was that she had hoped her children might get married there someday. While the Cunningham Pond house would be challenging for a wedding because of parking, Reeves and Baum are hosting an ice cream social as part of Reeves’ daughter’s wedding weekend this month. 

“At first, my daughter said she had no emotional ties to this house, so she wasn’t thinking about it for the wedding,” Reeves said. “But over, time she has come to really love it, and it has become a place that has moved from a physical space to a place with memories, a place she cares about.” 

Baum says the house has special energy. 

“We’ve had this house blessed by monks, which makes a difference. This house has good karma; it has good energy. I’m very active out in the world, and when I come home, I need quiet,” Baum said. “This is our sanctuary.”