Fonthill Castle

OVERVIEW

A concrete castle built 1908–12 by Henry Chapman Mercer — archaeologist, tile-maker and collector — to his own design, with 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces and more than 200 windows, lined with his Moravian tiles and the prints and artefacts he gathered. Mercer lived and died here (1930); the Bucks County Historical Society runs it with his Mercer Museum. National Historic Landmark.

HISTORY

Mercer built three concrete buildings in Doylestown — the castle, the tile works and the museum — without an architect; the castle is the one he lived in.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The museum runs candlelit and 'haunted' tours and its staff describe footsteps, doors and a figure in the study taken for Mercer or his housekeeper Laura Swain, who lived on in the house until 1975. The institution tells the stories; the entry records that.

VISITING

Guided tours by reservation; the museum is next door.