As my friend noted on Friday when we visited Henry Mercer's Fonthill Castle, "I have a new appreciation for concrete." If you want to see concrete, concrete, and more concrete, make it a
point to visit Fonthill Castle, the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, and
the Mercer Museum, all of which are in Doylestown, PA.
Built between 1908 and 1912, Henry Mercer's Fonthill Castle is made of hand-mixed concrete. Many of the rooms contained built-in desks made of concrete. Fonthill Castle contains 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces, 32 staircases, and over 200 windows.
Rooms are decorated with Mr. Mercer's handcrafted tiles and tiles from
all around the world. I enjoyed seeing the Delft tiles in one of the
main rooms on the first floor as it brought back good memories from a
trip to The Netherlands.
~ The lush, green grounds of Fonthill Castle ~
Afraid of the threat of fire, Henry Mercer chose to build Fonthill Castle out of concrete. Concrete, however, holds the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. Only a few of the rooms now contain air conditioning. It was a bit warm throughout the castle, but not uncomfortable.
I'm most certain this is the carriage house. You can rent this building for special occasions, such as weddings.
I was able to sneak a picture from the inside of this building.
This is a view of the back of Fonthill Castle from an outside terrace overlooking the grounds.
~ Another view from the back terrace ~
~ Another view from the back terrace overlooking part of the castle and part of the carriage house ~
Look at that beautiful, blue Bucks County sky!
~ The tree-lined drive leading to and from Fonthill Castle ~
