Henry Mercer was rogue anthropologist, a control freak, and had an extreme case of obsessive compulsive disorder. And he has left a fascinating legacy in Bucks County, Pennsylvania that My wife and I had the pleasure and touring this summer.
Fonthill
Being funded by his aunt who was worth approximately $1,000,000, Mercer built a 44-room castle entirely out of hand-mixed concrete. The castle sports 32 stairwells, 18 fireplaces, and more than 200 windows. When all was said and done, Mercer completed his castle in 1910 having spent around $35,000.
Mercer had workers who helped him build the concrete wonder, but none of them had any architecture experience and building with concrete was a fairly new method. Mercer wanted workers with no experience or training so no one could tell him how to do things.
During a tour, we saw some of the first attempts by Mercer and his crew to build pillars. They were still standing, but they weren’t the prettiest of structures. We could see his attempts to improve his methods throughout the basement.
Mercer literally built Fonthill with his own two hands through trial and error.
Throughout the rooms is Mercer’s endless collection of artifacts from all over the world including tiles, books, pottery, propaganda posters, guns, swords, and furniture. Mercer made his castle into a museum that would have been great entertainment for guests. The artifacts range from 4000 BC to the 1800’s.
While Mercer was meticulous in collecting these items and keeping them in good condition, he was ultimately decorating his castle. If something could be made part of a column or the wall, it was embedding into the concrete structure. The walls and ceilings are covered with these artifacts making the castle truly priceless.
To ensure that his home received “castle status”, he built a crypt in the basement. What castle is complete without a crypt? Although no bodies are stored there.
The castle is a huge building. In about an hour and a half, my wife and I were given a tour of only 8 of the 44 rooms.
Mercer Museum
A few miles away from Fonthill is Mercer Museum containing 1,000’s of early American everyday objects. This is another castle structure built entirely from hand-mixed concrete that Mercer finished in 1916.
This 6 story building is overflowing with anything and everything from more than 60 different trade in the days of the Colonial States up until around 1850. And I do mean everything. Other than clothes, tools, carriages, fences, and structures, the final floor even holds a gallows.
Mercer’s Cataloging System
My wife and I started in the Mercer Museum when touring this man’s legacy. One of the things we both noticed was there were numbers written on everything. No matter how big or small the item was, it had a number such as “11524”.
We both found this a little tacky for a museum and wondered why this practice was started.
When we got to the Fonthill, we noticed a similar numbering system on everything including the books. A wall would be covered with several hundred ancient titles and each had a clearly visible number on them. When we asked the tour guide about the numbers, he explained that Mercer put the numbers on everything himself.
Somewhere not available to the public, there is a series of books in which Mercer wrote down the number and a description of each item. The description would include things like where and when he got the item, and what he believed the original origins were at the time.
Henry Mercer was a control freak with OCD, but he has left a fascinating trip through history. Both castles are now National Historical Landmarks and can be toured daily. Mercer Museum can be toured freely without supervision, but Fonthill requires a tour guide.