Fonthill Castle (Mercer Museum)
Discover insights into the cultural history of central and eastern Pennsylvania as you visit a pair of one-of-a-kind destinations in the region, Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum and the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle. Each of the sites grew out of their founders’ personal interests in celebrating and preserving aspects of the distinctive centuries-old heritage reflected in the area’s crafts and decorative arts, architecture, agriculture, and commerce.
George and Henry Landis recognized the significance of the traditions of their German ancestors who had settled in Lancaster County during the early 1700s. The brothers began to build a collection of more than 75,000 related artifacts, the nucleus of the small museum they opened in the 1920s on the grounds of their Landis Valley homestead. Today, that museum is a history village and farm that collects, preserves and interprets the history and material culture of the Pennsylvania German rural community from 1740 to 1940. From weathervanes to toys, quilts to Conestoga wagons, tavern signs to farm implements, the museum’s collections offer a richly detailed look at how German Americans lived and worked in the Lancaster area from the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries.
Another close-up look at how Pennsylvanians of the past lived and worked can be found at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. The 50,000-strong collection focuses on objects and artifacts from more than 60 American trades and crafts that thrived from pre-Revolutionary times through the mid-19th century. The museum’s four-story atrium, hung ceiling to floor with an astonishing and whimsical display of boats, wagon wheels, carriages, tools, furniture, farm equipment, coaches, signs, and other items feels like a set for a Harry Potter film. Archeologist and ceramicist Henry Chapman Mercer, who founded the museum in 1897, created his own fantasy setting in his nearby residence. He designed and built the six-story Fonthill Castle, an opulent and quirky mix of medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine styles realized in poured concrete, as a showplace for his collection of tiles and prints.
Environmental historian and storyteller Hayden Mathews serves as the tour leader.
Fringe stop at about 7:25 a.m.
A box lunch is included; the return trip includes a stop to purchase a meal.
