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Whether it was incorporating ideas about wood paneling that he loved in a 12th-century English manor house or copying elements of Gothic and Byzantine architecture, Mercer brought a little bit of Europe to then-rural Bucks County. Besides being an archaeologist, Mercer was a self styled anthropologist, ethnographer, and perhaps most importantly, collector. When Mercer began to collect artifacts for his museum, his aunt informed him that she had a vast collection of medieval armor. Mercer was delighted, as he wanted the Mercer Museum to contain not only relics of American history, but world history as well. The armor was kept in storage in Boston while Mercer continued to collect.
Mercer MUSEUM
In addition to the tiles Mercer made, you’ll see lots of examples from around the world. There are distinctive Delft blue tiles from the Netherlands, Chinese roof tiles, and Persian tiles. There are even 2000-year-old cuneiform tablets from Babylon incorporated in one of the columns. Mercer believed in his vision and the material he thought was best—concrete was cheap, fireproof, and easily molded. Since a visit here is still one of the top things to do in Doylestown a century later, the risk paid off.
Unaccompanied Children
All tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable, and cannot be exchanged for a new date or time. Plan to arrive 10 minutes prior to your tour’s start time and check-in at the Fonthill Castle Welcome Center. Please read about each castle below to ensure you are selecting the correct one before you purchase your ticket.
The massive house is filled with handmade and historic tiles
On days with predicted excessive heat warnings, we will amend our tour routes of Fonthill Castle and aim to avoid areas with the most excessive heat fluctuations. Fonthill Castle tours may not be suitable for younger children under the age of 5, as tours last 60-minutes and may be challenging for the patience of toddlers. The ground floor of the Mercer Museum features a modern wing that is fully accessible and climate-controlled with a changing exhibit gallery, lecture space, museum shop, and restrooms. They are located one mile apart in the heart of Doylestown, PA, and you will need to buy a separate ticket for each. Also interesting in this area is the collection of Moravian tiles embedded in the walls.
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 tablets discovered in Mesopotamia 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. Fonthill is located north of the town center of Doylestown, on the west side of East Court Street, just south of the tile works. Its appearance is loosely based on European medieval castles, and has walls of concrete 2 feet (0.61 m) thick. The exterior is adorned by decorative tiles, the interior is furnished and decorated with Chapman's collections.
Fonthill is just one of three institutions Mercer built in Doylestown
This is quite evident even as you’re pulling up to the museum, as it’s housed in what appears to be a grand European castle. And, while it’s obviously not a European castle, the museum’s founder and designer, Henry Chapman Mercer, certainly intended it to resemble that. To say that the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, is unlike any other historical society museum that I’ve visited is a bit of an understatement. In fact, the Mercer Museum might be unlike any museum I’ve ever visited, period.
Merrill Gardens started with one community in Seattle, Washington in 1993 and now has locations across the country offering independent living, assisted living, personal care and memory care. Through innovative programs and a determined commitment to quality, Merrill Gardens is one of the most respected senior living providers in the country. Some of the museum’s most fascinating collections are in the upper levels. One such item is the only surviving Franklin Stove made from Benjamin Franklin’s original design. Make sure you don’t miss it among the dozens of stoves and stove plates that are collected around the museum’s attic.
Walking into the castle itself, you can’t help but notice the grand five-story atrium. Of the museum’s collection of 30,000 pieces, over 60% is on display, with many items still in the same layout that Mercer himself placed them over 80 years ago. Our first guide was fascinated by Mercer and his career, and she added lots of information about his travels and family background to her story. Our second guide was a lover of the architecture and tiles, pointing out many details that we might have otherwise overlooked. If there is an aspect of the site and history that particularly interests you, there is plenty of time for questions throughout the tour.
Each of the museum’s first five floors contains individual rooms, each dedicated to a different industry. Some of them use tools that don’t look too different than what is used today, but there are also some very strange contraptions, such as those used for diving and whaling. Hogwarts feel aside, the Mercer Museum’s collection is one of the more unique in the state, featuring tools that were powered entirely by humans or animals. Interestingly enough, however, these items weren’t collected years after their use, but were often picked up while they were still contemporary machinery. The fact that the Mercer Museum is housed in a six-story concrete castle is strange enough, but the collection inside is so eccentric that the castle-like exterior almost seems fitting. In fact, stepping into the main hall, with machinery literally hanging off the walls and from the rafters, you would be excused from thinking that you had somehow walked into a set for a Harry Potter film.
The Mercers would host lavish dinner parties there, with guests like Groucho Marx, Isadora Duncan and the Von Trapp family. When the family passed away, the mansion fell into despair, until the 1980s when the Heritage Conservancy took over. Today, you can schedule a guided tour of the mansion, or, rent it out for your wedding. The National Historical Landmark and “working history” museum produces handmade tiles and mosaics in the same style of Mercer’s original designs. Guests can even watch artisans throughout the entire tile-making process. Adjacent to Fonthill, the Tile Works still produces the Moravian tiles seen throughout the house.
Explore the gothic, medieval-style Fonthill Castle in the heart of Bucks County - WPVI-TV
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We particularly liked the decorative tiles at the tops of columns and crisscrossing the ceiling vaults. With 44 rooms, 32 stairwells, 18 fireplaces, and 21 chimneys, this home was built to stand out. Many of those spaces are covered in tiles that Mercer designed and made himself or collected from around the world. Tours at Fonthill are packed with information about the castle and its creative owner and builder, Henry Chapman Mercer. It’s one of our favorite sites in Bucks County, and we have visited the distinctive property several times to soak in all its artistry in different seasons.
From the vaulted ceilings to the polished floors, Mercer designed and oversaw it all himself in an experiment he wasn’t sure would work. He even told people that an architect who cared about his reputation would never make such risky choices. The museum is one of three poured-in-place concrete structures built by Mercer. The others include his home Fonthill and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, both of which are located one mile from the museum.
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These interests were arrayed on the family estate, “Aldie” (BU42), where he constructed an early tile kiln. It offers limited accessibility with steep stairs and narrow, uneven passages throughout the interior of the site. Overall, though, I really enjoyed my visit to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.
Built to house Henry Mercer's extensive collection of objects representing everyday life in the pre-industrial age. By clicking SUBMIT, I agree a Coldwell Banker Agent may contact me by phone or text message including by automated means about real estate services,and that I can access real estate services without providing my phone number. I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The historic castle portion of the Mercer Museum has an elevator and offers partial accessibility due to narrow passageways. It is not climate-controlled and may experience fluctuations in temperature and humidity, depending on external weather conditions.
The welcome center, which was once the property’s garage, is just a few steps from the parking area. It’s best to arrive about minutes before the scheduled start of your tour to leave time to check in. Wealthy and curious, Mercer traveled the world for personal enjoyment and in his work as a collector, museum curator, and archaeologist. From England to Italy and beyond, his travels inspired the floor plan and details of Fonthill.
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