Sunday, September 28, 2003

By Elaine Hardman

DOYLESTOWN -- In 1908, Harvard-educated Henry Chapman Mercer bought an old farmhouse on 60 acres in his hometown of Doylestown, Bucks County, about 25 miles north of Philadelphia. He hired 10 men and a horse named Lucy and set out to prove that contemporary architects were wrong.

	If you go: Doylestown attractions Doylestown is a six-hour drive from Pittsburgh. Follow I-76 East. Take PA-611 exit toward Doylestown at exit 343. FONTHILL AND MORAVIAN TILE WORKS -- Fonthill is at East Court Street and Route 313. Admission is $7 adults; $6.50 seniors; $2.50 youth 6 to 17; under 6, free. 1-215-348-9461. Resembling a Spanish mission, the factory, like Fonthill itself, is constructed of concrete around a courtyard that permits work to be performed outdoors in good weather. The factory produces original tile designs using tools and techniques developed by Mercer. Moravian tiles are found throughout the nation, including at the Boston Gardner Museum, the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, and the John D. Rockefeller Estate in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. The Moravian Tile Works is on the same site as Fonthill. Admission to the Tile Works is $6. THE MERCER MUSEUM -- This museum contains Henry Mercer's collection of tools and everyday objects grouped by trade: for example, woodworking, metalwork, agriculture, textiles. The collection now contains more than 50,000 tools and artifacts illustrating themes of early American social and economic history. The Mercer Museum is at 84 S. Pine St. Admission is $6. Information: 1-215-345-0210 or www.mercermuseum.org. Lodging suggestions can be found at www.buckscountycvb.org or by calling the Bucks County Conference and Visitors Bureau, 1-215-639-0300. -- Elaine Hardman

He encased the original structure in fireproof concrete, then added, decorated and furnished another 42 rooms. The resulting mansion, a live-in sculpture named Fonthill, now a National Historic Landmark, has attracted visitors from around the world for nearly a century.

Born in 1856, Mercer, founder of the Moravian Tile Works, studied archaeology, art, law, architecture, languages and virtually every other topic he happened upon before deciding on a career as a ceramic artist.

After watching an uncle's home, full of art treasures, burn to the ground, he decided that he would build a fireproof home.

Years before, while touring Europe, he had first thought about the idea. He was impressed by the medieval stone castles he visited, but as homes, he found them cold, dark, damp and uninviting. Still, ever the scholar and artist, he closely studied the old buildings, creating sketches that he later incorporated into the design of his Doylestown castle.

In the early 1900s, most builders relegated concrete to the ground as a material for foundations and sidewalks, nothing more. Mercer had a higher opinion of the stuff, considering it to be cheap, strong and, of course, flameproof, as well as a perfect backing for the artwork of the Moravian Tile Works.

Ignoring the warnings of other architects, he set out to construct what would be one of the first freestanding concrete structures custom-molded around such modern conveniences as indoor plumbing, central heating and an early Otis elevator -- all innovative features for any dwelling in 1908. While critics waited for his home to tumble in on itself, Mercer would relax on summer nights at 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, considering all tasks and topics with great interest. His personal 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 previous century was, like today, a period of rapid technological change. Machine-made goods were replacing the hand-crafted 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 archaeological training to collect, catalog and preserve every old tool he could find.

Driven by curiosity, he became enthralled with clay, ceramic art and the tools used to produce it. He began to develop artistically, first by creating wheel-thrown pottery and then by designing and carving ceramic tiles. He would later apply thousands of these tiles to the floors, walls and ceilings of Fonthill.

Although concrete was the chief material used in his castle, Mercer softened the overall effect by adding wood in his typical, eccentric way. For example, recycled multipaneled doors were used as forms for concrete walls and left in place, making elegant wood wainscoting in several rooms.

All functional doors were of wood, though framed in concrete, and like the windows were of a variety of shapes and sizes. Mercer found his doors and windows at penny lot sales, the rummage sales of his time.

Mercer was a man involved with his world. His mind was engaged in finding connections and exploring ideas. He felt that if nature created trees with subtle differences, then people should follow the example by building distinctive rooms in one-of-a-kind homes. Each room in Fonthill has a different size, shape and theme.

Like a sculpture, Fonthill 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. Mercer coated the 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 decor 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 hundreds of framed prints by artists such as Albrecht Durer and William Hogarth -- part of a collection Mercer had assembled from around the world.

Mercer spent two years and what was then considered a fortune, more than $30,000, constructing his castle, and two more years decorating walls and stairwells with tiles, paintings, prints and recycled architectural items.

During the 20 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, and "November Night Tales," a collection of short stories written in the style of Edgar Allan 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 library included more than 6,000 volumes in English, German, French, Greek, Latin and Spanish, and nearly all have margin notes in his own hand. If a book lacked an index or a glossary, Mercer created one.

Subjects covered by his library include art, shipwrecks, landscaping, ghost stories, architecture, history, religion, travel and much more. His favorite novel was Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers." Works such as "The Arabian Nights" can be found in several languages, as can the Bible and Quran.

In 1975, the National Park Service declared his concrete castle a National Historic Landmark, along with the nearby Mercer Museum (housing Mercer's extensive tool collection) and the Moravian Tile Works (Mercer's ceramic tile factory). The designation honors Mercer's work in concrete construction, as an archivist of antique tools, and as a leader in the Arts and Crafts Movement in American ceramic products. His innovative designs, quirky furnishings and inspired ornamentation now attract about 30,000 visitors to Fonthill each year.

Mercer respected common laborers and their ordinary tools and materials, saying that both the skill and the product made up an anonymous history of the country, a people's history deserving of respect. Ever faithful to those feelings, Mercer chose to die in the Spring Bedroom, a room decorated with tiles of workers, in 1930.

After spending time in his home, listening to knowledgeable guides delineate his accomplishments and looking at his collections, a visitor easily develops admiration for Mercer and his work.

If Fonthill exists as a unique dwelling, then the Mercer Museum is an irreplaceable preserve of tools. Even a short visit makes it clear that Mercer was an exceptional individual with a sensibility that commanded vast stores of knowledge, awareness and vision.

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