Built between 1908-1912, Fonthill Castle was the home of Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930). Archaeologist, anthropologist, ceramicist, scholar and antiquarian, Mercer built Fonthill Castle both as his home and as a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints. The first of three Mercer buildings in Doylestown, Fonthill Castle served as a showplace for Mercer’s famed Moravian tiles that were produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Designed by Mercer, the building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles, and is significant as an early example of poured reinforced concrete (I previously blogged about the Mercer Museum here [a separate structure housing Mercer's massive collection of pre-Industrial tools]).
Had the neat pleasure of visiting this amazing castle museum. The guided tour through the ornate passages and strange stairways was pure bliss. Henry Mercer was definitely a man who loved the darker side of architecture. And there even was a real human skull, resting in Mercer's old study. We pressed the excellent tour guide on the origins of the skull and she informed everyone that Mercer's sister (perhaps fifteen years old at the time) gifted it to him as a reminder of his mortality. The original owner of the skull is unknown (owner = whose head it was).
Snapped a ton of photos of this incredible afternoon spent in a mysterious concrete home.
