Pennsylvania – Bucks County

 Posted by on June 26, 2011
Jun 262011
 

Outside Philadelphia – This is the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, (Bucks County) Pennsylvania.  Henry Mercer inherited his money from a maiden aunt and with this money he started collecting objects of everyday life, convinced that the history of Bucks County was the history of the world. At first he did all the collecting himself, but over the years he developed quite a network of people that would bring him items from far and wide.

His first collection burned down, thus creating the desire to house the entire new collection in a fireproof, concrete building.  So in 1916, Mercer erected a 6-story concrete castle. The towering central atrium of the Museum was used to hang the largest objects such as a whale boat, stage coach and Conestoga wagon. On each level surrounding the court, smaller exhibits were installed in a warren of alcoves, niches and rooms according to Mercer’s classifications — healing arts, tinsmithing, dairying, illumination and so on. The end result of the building is a unique interior that is both logical and provocative. It requires the visitor to view objects in a new way. It is easy to follow and gives you a wonderful sense of how things were actually used.

Just down the road is his home, Fonthill.  It served as a showplace for Mercer’s famed Moravian tiles that were produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Designed by Mercer, the building is an eclectic mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles, and is significant as an early example of poured reinforced concrete.

I truly regret that we did not get a chance to tour the Moravian tile factory on the grounds of Fonthill, due to time constraints, but those are the reasons you find yourself with excuses to return to some places.

The museum is open to 7 days a week, the home Fonthill, however, requires a guided tour.  The tour takes at least an hour and a half.  There is not photography allowed inside the home, which is a shame, because it is rather amazing and I would love to show you some of it.  I apologize for the first photo of the museum, but to get a sense of the size I really had to shoot straight into the ceiling light.

Some of the fun things just hanging out in the museum.
Moravian Tiles

Palm Springs – Oddities

 Posted by on May 13, 2011
May 132011
 

This is one of my favorite types of architecture.  Scavenger, innovative, a tad crazy and an absolute representation of the person that built it.  This is the home of Cabot Yerxa.  He was the son of a fabulously wealthy family that lost it all.  He was a creative, innovative and wealthy man by his own right, but when it all went south, he went to the desert.  He was 17 when he headed off to the 1898 Gold Rush to make his fortune, he met Teddy Rosevelt there who later made him the Postmaster General in the Pasadena, California area, he made a fortune on oranges and lost, not just the fruit, but all his trees to the freeze of 1913, his mother was a Cabot of the Cabot Lodge fame, and his life was rich and full.

This home is an homage to the Pueblo Indian life style and beliefs and is made from anything he could scavenge from the desert.  It had thick walls and dirt floors, and air flow system that kept it a cool 80 degrees, even in the dead of the summer.  He rediscovered the Agua Caliente by digging down 60 feet, after tireing of hauling water by burro for 14 miles most every day.

I love this kind of “eccentricity” and I loved this house.  It is now the Cabot’s Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot Springs.

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