Fonthill Castle: A Fortress of Eclecticism

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,’ we visit a creative Pennsylvania home blending gothic, medieval, and byzantine styles.

Situated on seven acres in rural Pennsylvania, Fonthill Castle boasts little symmetrical architecture. Various window shapes, especially arches—some of which are pointed in the quintessential gothic style—give the dwelling its individuality. Topping the main tower-like section is a concave, mansard-style open roof.Kevin Crawford

Several European countries are replete with centuries-old castles. In the United States, however, any structures deemed “castles” are modern interpretations of true fortresses. Such is the case with Fonthill Castle in the southeastern Pennsylvania borough of Doylestown. Although the home of Henry Chapman Mercer (1856–1930) borrows from definitive medieval representations, the architectural design also integrates gothic and byzantine styles.

Completed in 1912, the six-story Fonthill Castle is a presentation of eclecticism both inside and out. Though it does contain fortress-like elements, it is more of a chateau than a castle.

With 44 rooms, 32 stairwells, 18 fireplaces, and 200 windows, the structure was primarily designed to showcase Mercer’s unique art—principally ceramic tiles. Artistic, geometric, and plain tiles of natural and earthen hues adorn walls, ceilings, mantels, columns, and floors.

Besides being a ceramicist, Mercer was also an archaeologist and anthropologist. He designed spaces to house and display vast collections of artifacts, pottery, books, and drawings. His unique Fonthill Castle is managed by the Bucks County Historical Society and is open for tours. The public can experience this man’s multifarious architectural and artistic pursuits, which he articulated in a notable structure.

Fonthill’s great chamber-like saloon is distinguished by its coffered ceiling, massive arched window, and irregular concrete columns. Mercer’s handmade tiles—in various shapes, colors and designs—are displayed on practically every surface. Numerous paintings and drawings coordinate with the tiles and result in a colorful and highly creative assemblage of artistic elements in this resplendent room. Kevin Crawford

The two-story library has a vaulted ceiling replete with Mercer’s ceramic tiles. It also includes tiles he collected during extensive travels in Europe. The ceiling’s artistry appears to fan up from the capital of a concrete column, and tiles extensively adorn the fireplace and floor. Light floods into the room from tall, rounded, gothic arch-style windows. Kevin Crawford

Many rooms at Fonthill Castle incorporate elements of byzantine style in the tilework-adorned vaulted ceiling and the capitals of the poured concrete pillars and columns. Tilework and mosaics, in fact, are signature attributes of byzantine style, which emerged in the 4th century in Italian and Middle Eastern architecture. Also decorating this bedroom's walls are some of Mercer’s collected prints and paintings; an estimated 1,000 are hung at Fonthill Castle. Kevin Crawford

Approximately 6,000 books are housed in various built-in bookshelves in myriad rooms throughout the house. These bookcases appear to support the house’s unusual concrete ceiling, which features some of the owner’s hand-crafted ceramic tiles. Flooring and window ledges also showcase ceramic tiles. Kevin Crawford

The coarse nature of the all-concrete Fonthill Castle is clear in this roof view. The reinforced cement used to build the structure’s walls, roofs, towers, and chimneys was painstakingly hand mixed and hand applied using a formulation of sand and locally quarried crushed stone. christianthiel.net/Shutterstock

Evident in one of the almost three dozen stairwells, Mercer’s handmade tiles often conveyed elements of classic design as well as aspects of literary works, the Bible, and operas. On the risers of these steps are tiles communicating the Latin phrase: “Non-Domo Dominus Sed Domino Domus,” meaning, "Not the master for the house but the house for the master." Kevin Crawford

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