Pennsylvania – Bucks County

Outside Philadelphia – This is the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, (Bucks County) Pennsylvania.  Henry Mercer inherited his money from a maiden aunt and with this money he started collecting objects of everyday life, convinced that the history of Bucks County was the history of the world. At first he did all the collecting himself, but over the years he developed quite a network of people that would bring him items from far and wide.

His first collection burned down, thus creating the desire to house the entire new collection in a fireproof, concrete building.  So in 1916, Mercer erected a 6-story concrete castle. The towering central atrium of the Museum was used to hang the largest objects such as a whale boat, stage coach and Conestoga wagon. On each level surrounding the court, smaller exhibits were installed in a warren of alcoves, niches and rooms according to Mercer’s classifications — healing arts, tinsmithing, dairying, illumination and so on. The end result of the building is a unique interior that is both logical and provocative. It requires the visitor to view objects in a new way. It is easy to follow and gives you a wonderful sense of how things were actually used.

Just down the road is his home, Fonthill.  It 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 truly regret that we did not get a chance to tour the Moravian tile factory on the grounds of Fonthill, due to time constraints, but those are the reasons you find yourself with excuses to return to some places.

The museum is open to 7 days a week, the home Fonthill, however, requires a guided tour.  The tour takes at least an hour and a half.  There is not photography allowed inside the home, which is a shame, because it is rather amazing and I would love to show you some of it.  I apologize for the first photo of the museum, but to get a sense of the size I really had to shoot straight into the ceiling light.