By Bonnie and Bill Neely
Henry Chapman Mercer was an unusually accomplished and fascinating man who was born in 1856 and lived until 1930. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar but never practiced law. His passion was travel, and he became an archeologist who went on to dig in many countries.
He never married, but in his hometown of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, he built Fonthill Castle, a 44-room home for himself on 70 acres. Next to the castle is a sprawling Gothic and Medieval cement structure, his Moravian Pottery and Tile Works factory. Here he and his craftsmen produced exquisite handmade clay tiles with designs that referred to famous works of art and literature and Greek and Roman mythology and more….