Traveler: Gay Giordano
Destination: Fonthill Castle – Doylestown, PA

During a recent visit to Fonthill Castle, Gay was once again captivated by the unique architectural details and elaborate ceramic tiles crafted by Henry Mercer.

My sister and I have loved this home/museum since childhood. We’ve been to Fonthill Castle many times, and again just the other weekend. It is the kind of place where you could go happily insane in the twisting, illogical rooms. Henry Mercer was a self-taught architect and builder, yet you can feel the absolute rejection of mathematics and geometry, and pretty much anything predictable. Made entirely of concrete, and repurposed scraps of timber from the area, you would think Fonthill Castle would feel oppressive, but the opposite is true – you are consistently delighted by raising your eyes upward which makes the ceilings feel oddly far away. Every surface of the home is embedded with tiles that Henry made or collected on his worldwide travels as a young man of some means. He also created Moravian Pottery and Tile Works for artisans from all over the world to come create, which has a shop attached and if you don’t go there, you’re going to regret it!

Here’s some background from the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle website:

Built between 1908-1912, Fonthill Castle was the home of archaeologist, anthropologist, ceramist, scholar and antiquarian Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930). Mercer built Fonthill Castle as his home and as a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints. The castle serves as an early example of reinforced concrete and features forty-four rooms, over two hundred windows, and eighteen fireplaces. Fonthill Castle’s interior features Mercer’s renowned, hand-crafted ceramic tiles designed at the height of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The art, architecture and personal collecting interests of Henry include several thousand European and American prints, and decorative ceramic tiles from Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East – as well as tile produced at Mercer’s own Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. Many of these tiles are inset into Fonthill’s walls and ceilings. The museum has a collection of over 17,000 pre-Industrial tools. This permanent collection offers visitors a unique window into pre-Industrial America through sixty different crafts and trades and is one of the world’s most comprehensive portraits of pre-Industrial American material culture.

The ceilings were made by piling garbage wrapped in chicken wire on top of scaffolding, pouring cement on top, and pushing tiles through from the outside. When it dried, he tossed out the trash bags and scaffolding and these oddly shaped ceilings emerged.

Chicken wire was often utilized; here, ancient (extremely valuable) pottery was also cleverly held up by some.

Mercer loved fireplace plates and had an enormous collection – he embedded them in the ceiling to highlight their beauty.

For one of his own fireplaces, he created a tile surround depicting the Pickwick Papers. Mercer made one for a client and loved it so much he duplicated it for himself. He was a huge Dickens fan.

We were immersed in stories! On the right, a tale of a sea serpent eating the crew. They sold a replica tile in the shop, so naturally I had to buy it as an anniversary gift for my husband.

In the Ladies’ bedroom is the Tale of Bluebeard. Interesting choice of stories here…

Mercer displayed a portion of his priceless tiles behind glass and set them within the columns.

There were other various, unique details he incorporated into the spaces, like this secret library accessed through a secret stair behind a fireplace.

One very odd door latch and a mysterious door made from the scaffolding he used to make the rooftops.

He also had a thing about stoves.

Mercer considered this one of the best books on architecture he’d ever read. So here’s a free download: Colonial Architecture for Those about to Build (archive.org)

I hope you enjoyed this tour and all the great details of Fonthill Castle!