Amazing property, it is a hidden gem. Went with my family for the tour and everyone enjoyed it!read more

Purchasing tickets online and the sign in at the welcome center was easy. our guide was Kieran and…read morehe did an excellent job of telling the story of the Henry Mercer and the castle. The one hour tour was fascinating and entertaining. The castle was so unique with the amazing ceilings of tiles and artifacts from all over the world and a myriad of rooms and doors that one could easily get lost in. I'm so glad we made the time to come here. We want to return to walk the trails on the property as we ran out of time.

An old library book, Gardens of Philadelphia, made me aware of Highlands Mansion, and…read morecoincidentally friends wanted to have a play date at Kids Castle, so on our way home we checked out Highlands. The mansion is apparently under restoration so I did not tour it, but I did see the gardens. While these gardens are nothing compared to the scale of the Brandywine DuPont estates, they are impressive for a former private residence. The most remarkable thing about them, to me, is their use of dramatic tall freestanding walls. Designers seem to agree that the best tool for success in landscaping is creating outdoor "rooms" or dedicated areas with hedged/fenced/walled/etc. boundaries to delineate and discern one outdoor space from another. I've toured many gardens domestic and abroad and I've never seen such a liberal use of wall structures that were apparently built solely for ornamental landscaping purposes (as opposed to ruins or retaining walls). Yes, you see decorative walls employed at Longwood and Chanticleer, but none so gigantic as these. Highlands was working with flat plain meadow and the goal seemed to be to create multiple garden-framed large lawn spaces, free of tree debris or too much shade to affect the grass. The walls are designed to tower as high as ornamental trees, but without the maintenance, root issues, leaf drop, etc. and they green-ify these walls with ivy trained all over them. Voila, vertical garden, architectural interest, height, and allowance for terrain diversification. I grew up adjacent to the trove of magnificent DuPont estates in the Brandywine Valley. I'm now fortunate to live 2 1/2 mi from Chanticleer and 7 1/2mi from Tyler Arboretum (Jenkins is closer but it doesn't appeal to me). I would recommend the destinations closer to me for full day visits, while Highlands gardens would only take a half hour for the formal area, and more if you choose to hike a trail or tour the manse. Still, it may be a half-day visit at most. While not a day trip destination on its own, it is a worthy stop if in the area, and I do recommend it to anyone interested in garden design who's already toured the others I mentioned. This is also an event venue, and the formal space is certainly made for such use, so it's lovely people can enjoy the space as it was intended when conceived.

While the mansion is still undergoing renovations so we were not able to include that and so my…read morereview may change in the future. Don't expect to take even a full afternoon visiting but it is a lovely preserved estate around the city. There's some goats, and the grounds are enjoyable to take an hour or so to walk with nice historical signs for context. There is some parking but it likely gets packed in high traffic times. I can't put it in my top gardens available for Philadelphia, it's good to have treasures like these to keep the sense of history and love of horticulture the area has long held.

VERY INTERESTING!!! While visiting my daughter in PA from CA we checked out the Mercer Museum and…read moretruly enjoyed the experience. Plenty of free parking available and Admission @ $20 for adults and $ 17 for Seniors was fair. So much to see and learn, you literally had to look everywhere, no space was left unused! The staff was helpful and insightful and we learned a lot and were impressed with the collection. Down side was elevators we not working which was OK for us but might have been an issue for others. #2 issue was lack of air conditioning in parts of the building. I highly recommend you take the time to see this!

It was a random visit. A sunny day, a lovely ride, and we ended up in Doylestown, an area that…read morepiques my interest. Had no idea what was in the Mercer and was blown away by what we saw. Henry Mercer, a true renaissance man, built the Mercer Musem to preserve a vast collection of everyday objects from pre-industrial America. Watching a film at the outset -- most people skipped it -- gave us an idea of what was behind the exhibits. Everything is precisely categorized: tools used for meat preparation, tools for dairy production, tools used with fruit ..... (he had a fascination with tools.) In 1911-'12 Mercer built Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. For a period of time he was recognized as the premier maker of artistic tiles. A mile down the road is Fonthill Castle, Mercer's home and showplace for his tiles. Open to the public, but unfortunately closed Saturday because of a wedding. (What a cool place for a wedding!) Both properties are Smithsonian affiliates, operated by the Bucks County Historical Society. If you find yourself in the area, I recommend a visit. (Ladies, wear comfortable flat shoes; there are winding staircases of hard concrete, and I hate to imagine a fall.) After your visit, you might want to keep your car parked in Mercer's lot and walk a few blocks to State and Main Streets. A number of bars and restaurants.

If you haven't taken the covered bridges tour, do so. It's such a beautiful drive, even when the…read moretrees haven't fully come in yet--the scenery still feels peaceful and worth it. We made a weekend out of it and stayed overnight in Bethlehem, which made the whole experience even better. Highly recommend.

What's that old song lyric? "The best things in life are free". It may not have been quite free,…read morebut for the price of a tank of gas we were able to spend a lovely fall day with our closest friends taking the covered bridge tour in beautiful and historic Bucks County PA.. And that seemed among the "best things" to us. So we wanted to post a heads up to others via Yelp about this tour for others who might enjoy it. There are but twelve covered bridges remaining of the original three dozen originally built in Buck's' County Pennsylvania. Thanks to the hard work of some dedicated folks, the twelve that remain are maintained for all of us to enjoy. This driving (or biking) tour will take you to all of them - or some if you prefer not to do the entire tour. For our two bits, this is a great way to spend a day, including a stop at Bowman's Hill Tower to take in the views and the history of that site (it's on the tour path so you're missing out if you don't stop here) and Bowman' Wildlife Preserve. In particular on a beautiful fall day as we did last week. (Both the Tower and Preserve are in New Hope.) The Wildlife Preserve has a picnic area outside the gates so taking along a picnic lunch is a great idea. And inside the gates, there are bathrooms at the visitor center...hooray. See the website posted at the of the page for more info on each of the bridges and the driving map. Another good bridge tor website is located here. http://letsget.com/html/Directory/community/comm_states/comm_counties_pa/comm_ya_bucks/covered_bri.html#TOUR

Mom and I loved our self guided tour of this fascinating art tile factory. You get to see the tiles…read moremade the way the founder did. The building is so cool and you can buy hand crafted pottery. Loved it!

A "working museum," Moravian Pottery & Tile Works was founded and built by Henry Chapman Mercer in…read morethe early twentieth century, and the facility still produces handmade tiles using techniques that Mercer developed, and reproductions are crafted using his original molds and locally sourced clay. You can show up and just shop in their store (lots of tiles to choose from) or you can take a tour. The tour starts with a video (a pretty old one!) that explains the history and the architecture of the tile works and the process used by the tileworks to make its tile (pretty much the same as 100 year ago). Then you can wander through the self-guided tour path and see a demonstration of some tiles being pressed and talk to the staff about the tiles and process. It's definitely one of the many places worth visiting in Doylestown. It makes a great day or weekend trip combined with some of Doylestown's other attractions (like Mercer's home Fonthill, which is just next door, and the museum he founded in town). The tiles are beautiful, and it was great to learn and see how they're made!

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed seeing this house so much. Although the home is not…read moreincredibly large, it has an interesting history which is made even better by the guides. Our guide, Tim, was very knowledgeable about the home and the time period itself. The tour was small and relaxed, allowing time for any questions we had (which were plenty). There was a temporary exhibit upstairs on life, death, and medicine; also very interesting. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and open to answering any questions. My only "complaint" is that they accept cash only. I would've liked to purchase something from the gift shop to support them, but, had no cash on hand and am not from the area. Additional information: -I didn't see a public restroom. -Parking is along the road in front of the home. It is free. -Take some time to walk around the property and read the informational signs. There are benches in the front if someone needs to sit. -Ask about their beeswax, honey, and bee colony. They are in the process of harvesting their own honey and making candles. Again, great job to all of the people involved who work diligently to care for historic homes such as this and to educate the public. Thank you!

From the owner: Morgan Log House is a well preserved Germanic log house, that sits on land once owned by Edward…read moreMorgan, the maternal grandfather of Daniel Boone. The house was lived in from 1774 until 1964, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was officially restored in 1976.

First of course some history:…read more Hope Lodge was completed in 1748 by Samuel Morris who was a wealthy Quaker businessman. As a young man Sammy worked with his father at a mill complex in Ambler. Later he bought and sold commercial property in Philadelphia along with owning ships, a quarry, kilns, a tannery and Mather Mill which is only a block away from the mansion. As if that wasn't enough, Morris also had side hustles as being the justice of the peace for Whitemarsh, Philadelphia county commissioner and an assessor for Philadelphia county. While Morris supposedly had never been to England, he adopted the most current architectural style of the day in both England and America, Georgian, named for King George I who was reigning at the time. The style was popular in Great Britain for its balance and symmetry. Fun rumor #1 is that Edmund Woolley, architect of Independence Hall, offered some advice on the mansion's design in exchange for some quarried lime and farm goods. Now here's where the historic part comes in. In 1777 the Whitemarsh Encampment, a six-week period of the American Revolution when the Continental Army camped in the surrounding fields after the Battle of Germantown and before encamping at Valley Forge occurs. During that time the house was used as the HQ of George Washington's Surgeon General, John Cochran. Fun rumor #2 is that while Washington never slept at the mansion or on the property, supposedly GW rode his horse through the first floor hallway of Hope Lodge during a visit. There is no evidence to support this claim, even though the hallway is wide enough, but no doubt that Washington would have visited Dr. Cochran frequently during the encampment. Eventually everything gets sold to English banker Henry Hope. Hope, to give you a sense of his importance, has enough juice at the time that Adam Smith in the 4th Edition of his still read today economics masterwork The Wealth of Nations, dedicated the book to Hope. Also if the Hope family name sounds familiar it's because among other things the Hope Diamond was named after them due to their ownership of the diamond. Never intending to live in Whitemarsh, Hope purchased the property as a wedding gift for his ward, James Watmough. It was the Watmoughs who named the site Hope Lodge, in honor of their benefactor. Prior to that and during Samuel Morris's lifetime the property is known as Whitemarsh Farms and Whitemarsh Estate. The property is then sold to a family who for almost the next century uses it primarily for farming. Lack of funds prevented upgrades to more modern things gas lighting and indoor plumbing in the late 19th century which meant the mansion's 18th century integrity is retained. From the Internet: "In 1921 the property is sold to Keasbey and Mattison, a development company whose plan was to demolish the structure and extend a nearby limestone quarry. To save it from destruction, William and Alice Degn bought the property in 1922. Early historic preservationists, they carefully restored the house and added their collection of 18th and early 19th century furnishings. They did not install a central heating system in the main house because of its destructive piping; rather they added a wing onto the existing summer kitchen for a winter residence. Both of the Degns loved flowers, and they created a beautiful rose garden on the south side of the house. After Mr. Degn's death in 1940, and Mrs. Degn's death in 1953, ownership of the house was transferred to the Hope Lodge Foundation, and in 1957, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, Hope Lodge is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the Friends of Hope Lodge, a non-profit support group formed to assist with operations at the site." So what you have today is a house that does not have the historical gravitas of a place where a Founding Father lived, worked or slept but due to the love it has received particularly from the Degn's the actual bones of the house are in amazing condition with the feature being the incomparable woodwork. If you go: Hope Lodge is not unlike a lot of other PHMC sites in that you really have to want to see it. Tours are only done one day a month, usually the 3rd Sunday, at 1pm and 2:30pm. Some months offer special events like a symphony concert, beer tasting, movie night under the stars and the biggie which is the annual re-enactment of the 1777 Whitemarsh Encampment which takes place in November. Tour admission is $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, $4.00 for youth age 6-17, children under 5 are free and Friends of Historic Hope Lodge members are free. Cash or check only. Active military personnel and their families are also free. Parking is via two smallish lots one on the side of the property near the gardens and the other in the rear of the property. The property is on South Bethlehem Pike which is very easy to get to from both the PA Turnpike and Route 309.

I give this 5 stars but with the warning that this is for people who are fans of history and old…read morehouses. A pre-revolutionary manor house outside of Philadelphia and about 2 miles from the Fort Washington exit of Pennsylvania turnpike it was a private residence until the early part of the 20th century. Now the house is open at intermittent hours but if you have an interest it is well worth the visit. It was a 4 up 4 down house the outside is a typical Georgian mansion of the 18th century. In side the great door one side of the house has been kept, redone, in the style of the colonial era. what was a parlor like and so forth, the other side is in the neo-colonial style that was fashionable in 1920's. You can compare with what people thought the idealized image was like with the historic truth. The cellars of the house are in the colonial style with different rooms for root and veggies, dairy and smoked meats and a food prep area. The kitchen is, like all good colonial houses, another building behind the mansion and has the big fireplace you'd expect a mansion to have for it's food. The site is pretty and when open they give tours but keep an eye out for their special events such as the colonial re-enactment the fist weekend in November or their colonial Xmas.

Princeton is a beautiful college town and I could spend days exploring every nook and cranny. Among…read moreone of the hidden gems in Princeton, is venturing the very same steps that Albert Einstein walked. What an incredible experience for me. Despite countless visits back East, I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now that I've gotten older. If I return here after all the COVID restrictions, I hope to spend more time here.

There's a very famous nativity display that happens each year from about November 24 to January 28…read more And I'm very happy that I finally got to see it! There were over 60 nativity displays, and about 34 of them are from different countries around the world! It's wonderful to get a house tour here too! You can hear about the construction in the history of this family and this area. I recommend coming and seeing very creative styles of the nativity from around the world!!

Niche find, lots of cool stuff to look at. Would totally recommend for history lovers!read more