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

Wow. What a unique, random gem and historic property. What is Fonthill and why is there a castle in…read moreDoylestown, Pennsylvania? Fonthill Castle was the home of archeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer. (Also in Doylestown are two more Mercer buildings you can tour - the Mercer Museum and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works building, the business Mercer ran and where most of the tiles in the castle were produced.) Henry Mercer seems like he was an interesting guy, and you can see that in his home - 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces, 200 windows, who knows how many staircases...! And designed and decorated in a way I've never seen anywhere else. The castle is an early example of poured-in-place concrete building and is a mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles. And there are, of course, Moravia tiles (and some historic and international tiles that he collected during his life) throughout the house - almost more than you could imagine. We visited last Saturday to experience their "Fonthill Castle Holiday Lights Meander Experience," which allows you to visit the castle through a self-guided experience (there were staff in various rooms who were happy to answer questions) and enjoy a series of Christmas trees on display throughout the home. I definitely enjoyed the experience but am definitely planning a return visit to see the castle in better light (not at night in the dark - which was perfect for the Christmas tree experience) - they offer 60-minute guided tours though the house for most of the year! The castle is pretty wild, and I look forward to visiting it again and experiencing it in a new way. If you are interested in architecture, art, crafts, the Arts and Crafts design movement, or just quirky, unusual places, definitely add Fonthill to your list and check it out!

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.

This is a really cute hidden local treasure - very charming and pretty. We had some wedding photos…read moretaken here, so it will always have a special place in our hearts! Lots of cool spots outside for photos, and the inside is really cute as well. I'm not sure they usually open the house, but the grounds are very nice to walk around. We stopped by again recently and had some time to reminisce before heading out because it was too cold.

This is really something to see how things were done long ago amazing.Wonderful time very…read moreinformative guide the slant in the vestibule area I'm guessing was form washing the steps down from the top check it out

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!

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

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!

OK to be honest this review is from when I visited as a young child about 50 years ago lol…read more However, the atmosphere and smell and beauty of the tiles have stuck with me forever. This is definitely a place worth visiting in my opinion.

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!

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.

Exquisite site and gardens. Excellent example of 18th century architecture and furnishings. Great…read morehistorical gem in our own backyard.

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