The
Concrete Castle
He bought a tiny
farmhouse on sixty acres of land in his hometown of Doylestown, Pennsylvania,
hired ten men and a horse named Lucy and set out to prove that contemporary
architects were wrong.
He
encased the original structure in concrete, then added, decorated and furnished
another 42 rooms. The resulting mansion, the house/sculpture of Fonthill, now a
National Historic Landmark created by Harvard-educated Henry Chapman Mercer,
founder of the Moravian Tile Works, has amazed visitors from around the world
for over a century.
Henry Mercer
(1856-1930) studied archeology, art, law, architecture and virtually every
other topic he happened upon before deciding on a career as a ceramic artist.
Lurking at the edge of all his study was the desire to design safer buildings.
As a teen he had watched an uncle’s residence, stocked with art treasures from
around the world, burn to the ground and vowed that one day he would build a
flameproof home.
In his twenties, while touring Europe, he had been
impressed with fire resistant, medieval stone castles but found them cold,
dark, damp and uninviting abodes. Ever the scholar and artist, he closely
studied the old buildings and created hundreds of sketches that he later
incorporated into the design of his Doylestown castle.
His approach to concrete broke with convention in 1900 when most
builders relegated concrete to sidewalk construction, nothing more. Mercer had
a higher opinion of the stuff, considering it to be cheap, strong, flameproof,
and a perfect backing for the art of his Moravian Tile Works
Ignoring the warnings and ridicule of other architects, Mercer’s
home became one of the first freestanding concrete structures. It was custom
molded around such modern conveniences as indoor plumbing, central heating and
an early Otis elevator - innovative features for any dwelling in 1908. While
critics waited for his home to tumble in on itself, he relaxed on summer nights
before a roaring fire on the roof of Fonthill, an eccentric act conducted to
demonstrate the strength and safety of his home.
Mercer, a man of
inherited wealth, lived for learning and discovery and considered all tasks and
topics with great interest. His motto was “plus ultra,” more beyond. He
believed that there is always more to consider in any design, problem or
thought. Placed on the front of a stair or tucked into the corner of a
fireplace, ceramic tiles with “plus ultra” chant Mercer’s motto
throughout Fonthill.
His involvement in
tile making evolved from his interest in collecting hand tools. The turn of the
century was, like today, a period of rapid technological change. Then,
machine-made goods were replacing the handcrafted, one-of-a-kind; work was
moving from shops and cottages to factories, and both the hand tools and the
skills needed to use them were rapidly being lost. Mercer used his
archeological training to collect, catalog and preserve every old tool he could
find.
Driven by curiosity,
he studied them all, but became enthralled with clay when he studied potters’
tools. He began to develop artistically, first creating wheel-thrown pottery
and then designing and carving ceramic tiles. He would later employ thousands
of these on the floors, walls and ceilings of Fonthill.
Each room in Fonthill
has a different size, shape and theme. Like a sculpture, it invites the eye
from every doorway and delights with unexpected contours and colors. Mercer
didn’t tear down the original house but built around it. He removed the low
kitchen ceiling, opening it to what was the second floor. When he did this, what
had been the second floor fireplace was then located high on the kitchen wall,
the practical unit then becoming unexpected whimsy, architectural humor. Mercer
coated the tall kitchen walls in concrete, to flameproof them, but left the
floating fireplace mantle exposed for its decorative, and curious, effect - an
arched eyebrow above the kitchen stove.
On the first floor, a
special, tiled niche was created to house Mercer’s bicycle, his only mode of
transportation around Doylestown. In bedrooms, recycled wood flooring was laid
near the bed, but away from the fireplace, and tapestries were hung from the
walls, in part for color and coziness, in part to mimic the décor of European
castles.
In many of the rooms,
Mercer cast bookshelves and even window seats in concrete, decorating the
material with handmade tiles. Tile also was employed to adorn the walls, along
with over 900 framed prints by artists such as Albrecht Durer and William
Hogarth – part of a collection Mercer assembled from around the world and
across the centuries.
Beginning in 1908, Mercer spent two years and what was
considered a fortune – more than $30,000 - building his castle, and two more
years decorating every surface with tiles, prints and recycled architectural
items. During the twenty years that he lived in Fonthill, Mercer wrote
pamphlets and articles about concrete construction techniques. He also
published books including Ancient Carpenter Tools, an illustrated
reference book printed in 1929, and November Night Tales, a collection of
short stories written in the style of Edgar Allen Poe.
He
worked in his favorite study where he placed four desks, one at each window, so
that he could read or write wherever the light was best during the day. He read
voraciously – his personal collection included more than 6,000 volumes in
English, German, French, Greek, Latin, and Spanish, nearly all with margin
notes in his own hand. If a book lacked an index or a glossary, the ever-tidy
Mercer created one.
Subjects
covered by his library include art, shipwrecks, supernatural events,
landscaping, ghost stories, architecture, history, religion, travel and much
more. His favorite novel was Dickens’s “The Pickwick Papers” and works like “The Arabian Nights” can be found in many
languages, as can the Bible and the Quran.
Innovative designs, quirky furnishings and inspired
ornamentation annually bring about 30,000 visitors to Fonthill where
enthusiastic guides relate the stories and details that make it a vibrant
museum. In 1975, The National Park Service declared Fonthill, the Mercer Museum
(housing Mercer’s extensive tool collection) and the Moravian Tile Works
(Mercer’s ceramic tile factory) to be National Historic Landmarks. The
designation honors Mercer’s work in concrete construction techniques, as an
archivist of antique tools and as a leader in the Arts and Crafts Movement in
American ceramics.
Mercer respected common laborers and their ordinary tools and
materials saying that both the skill and the product comprised an anonymous
history of the country, a people’s history deserving of respect. Faithful to
those feelings, Mercer chose to die in The Spring Bedroom, a room decorated
with tiles of workers.
After spending time in his home, listening to knowledgeable
guides delineate his accomplishments and looking at his collections, one easily
develops admiration for Mercer and his work. Fonthill exists as a unique
dwelling; the Mercer Museum is an irreplaceable preserve of tools; and the
Moravian Tile works offers inspiration for ceramists. Henry Chapman Mercer was
an exceptional individual with a sensibility in command of vast stores of
knowledge, awareness, creativity and vision. 
IF YOU GO…
Moravian Tile Works
Resembling a Spanish mission, the factory, like Fonthill
itself, is constructed of concrete. The building surrounds a courtyard where
work can be performed outdoors in good weather. The factory produces Mercer’s
original tile designs using tools and techniques developed by him. Moravian tiles are found throughout the
country, including at the Boston
Gardner Museum Pennsylvania State Capitol
Building Harrisburg , and the John
D. Rockefeller Estate in Pocantico
Hills , N.Y.
The Mercer Museum
This museum contains Henry Mercer’s collection of tools and
every day objects grouped by trade: for example, woodworking, metalwork,
agriculture, and textiles. The
constantly growing collection currently contains more than 50,000 tools and
artifacts illustrating themes of early American social and economic history.
