Fonthill Castle
National Historic Landmark · Doylestown, Pennsylvania
The house Henry Chapman Mercer poured out of reinforced concrete between 1908 and 1912, forty-four rooms of it, with no architect, no working drawings and no two windows alike. Mercer modelled the whole thing in clay first, designed it from the inside outward so that each room got the shape and light he wanted regardless of what that did to the exterior, and had a crew of unskilled labourers and a horse build it. Tiles from his own works are set into the walls, ceilings and floors of almost every room. It is one of the earliest reinforced-concrete buildings in the United States and there is nothing else quite like it anywhere.
525 East Court Street, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 18901, United States
Guided tours only, on timed tickets booked in advance, generally running a limited number of times daily. Closed at least one day a week, with a reduced winter schedule and closure on major holidays. Grounds and the surrounding Fonthill Park are free and open during daylight. The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works on the same property charges separately.