Fonthill, also known as Fonthill Castle, was the home of the American

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

and tile maker

Henry Chapman Mercer Henry Chapman Mercer (June 24, 1856 – March 9, 1930) was an American archeologist, artifact collector, tile-maker, and designer of three distinctive poured concrete structures: Fonthill, his home; the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works; and th ...

, in

Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton, north of Center City, Philadelphia, southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City. As of the 2020 cen ...

History

Fonthill Castle was the home of the archaeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer. Built between 1908 and 1912, it is an early example of poured-in-place concrete and features 44 rooms, over 200 windows, 18 fireplaces, 10 bathrooms and one powder room. The interior was originally painted in pastel colors, but age and sunlight have all but eradicated any hint of the former hues. One room in the Terrace Pavilion (built on the site of the former home's barn), has a restored paint job so visitors can view the home's former glory. The castle contains built-in furniture and is embellished with decorative tiles, made by Mercer at the height of the Arts and Crafts movement. The castle is filled with an extensive collection of ceramics embedded in the concrete of the house, as well as other artifacts from his world travels, including

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

tablets discovered in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

dating back to over 2300 BCE. The home also contains around 1,000 prints from Mercer's extensive collection, as well as over six thousand books, almost all of which were annotated by Mercer himself. The Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was later included in a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

along with the

Moravian Pottery and Tile Works The Moravian Pottery & Tile Works (MPTW) is a history museum located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, County of Bucks, and operated by TileWorks of Bucks County, a 501c3 non-profit organization. The museum ...

and the

Mercer Museum The Mercer Museum is a museum located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The Bucks County Historical Society operates the Mercer Museum, as well as the Research Library, and Fonthill Castle, former home of the museum's founder, archeologist Henry Chapm ...

. These three structures are the only poured-in-place

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

structures built by Mercer. The

is located on the same property as Fonthill Castle, and the

is located about a mile away. Fonthill Castle and the

are operated by the Bucks County Historical Society, whereas the

is operated by the County of Bucks.

Visiting

Fonthill Castle is open Tuesday- Sunday for guided one-hour tours. Due to its historic nature, Fonthill Castle has limited accessibility with steep stairs and narrow, uneven passages throughout the site. Personal photography is permitted during tours; commercial, wedding, or event photography permits are available.

Community Programs

Throughout the year, community programs are held at Fonthill Castle as enrichment activities and/or fundraisers for the Bucks County Historical Society. These events have included Winter Wonderland Tours, Shakespeare in the Park, Candlelight Holiday Tours, Tower Tours for Families, Mercer's Night Tales, Behind the Scenes Tours, Escape Rooms, etc.

Popular culture

The house is featured (by name and description) in

Lewis Shiner Lewis Shiner (born December 30, 1950 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American writer. Shiner began his career as a science fiction writer, and then identified with cyberpunk. He later wrote more mainstream novels, albeit often with magical realism and f ...

's 1990 novel ''Slam'', although in the book it has been relocated to

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. On the ''

Viva La Bam ''Viva La Bam'' is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show is a spin-off from MTV's '' Jackass'', in which Margera and most of the main cast appeared. Each episode had a specific theme, ...

'' Seasons 2 & 3 DVD, it is revealed that

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality s ...

shot the video for "And Love Said No" by HIM at Fonthill Castle. In 2007, Margera filmed parts of Minghags at the Fonthill Castle.

References

External links