Fonthill
From Archiplanet
| Fonthill | |
| Designer | Henry Mercer |
| Location | Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Date | 1908 to 1910 |
| Building Type | large house |
| Climate | temperate |
| Context | small town |
| Architectural Style | Idiosyncratic Neo-Romantic |
| Street Address | East Court Street |
| Notes | "Mercer Castle" |
| At Great Buildings | http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Fonthill.html |
Contents |
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Commentary
"Mercer's buildings embody the spirit of the 'woody and green country' as Ruskin described it. Especially in Fonthill, with its 'fantastic and rich detail', its traces of 'grotesqueness', and the fact that it 'assimilates with the intertwining of leaf and bough around it'. All three buildings are 'old fashioned in appearance, and 'not spruce, or natty, or very bright in color'; and all three have been developed to take advantage of the fact that in such a context 'the imagination is naturally alive.' Whether Mercer was aware of Ruskin's analysis or not, the qualities above exist in his buildings, probably the result of his very deep, nearly instinctive, understanding of and feeling for the place. To anyone who has felt the haunting serenity and mystery of the countryside in which they are located, the qualities seem right."
— from William Kleinsasser. Experiential Design Considerations and Categories of Experiential Response. p50-51.
Address
East Court Street
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[edit] References
Francis D. K. Ching. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979. ISBN 0-442-21535-5. LC 79-18045. NA2760.C46. plan, p236.— A nice graphic introduction to architectural ideas. Updated 1996 edition available at Amazon.com
Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause. Precedents in Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985. ISBN 0-442-21668-8. LC 84-3543. NA2750.C55 1984. clustering diagram, p201.— Updated edition available at Amazon.com
Howard Davis. Slide from photographer's collection.PCD .0405. PCD 2260.1012.0405.
William Kleinsasser. Synthesis 9. Eugene, OR: self published, 1990. p73, f57-64
William Kleinsasser. Experiential Design Considerations and Categories of Experiential Response. Eugene, Oregon: William Kleinsasser, 1975. NA2540.K525 1975. discussion p50-51.
Architecture Transformed.
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