Thursday, March 22, 2012

Henry Mercer's Buildings

I am finishing up a magazine submission on the intriguing
Henry Chapman Mercer.  
I've shown inside photos of his buildings and tile work previously, 
but his tile work and creative building style extends outdoors as well.

Outside of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works 
where his handmade tiles are made 
there are interesting kiln stacks. 


They line the roof top.
Each one is a piece of art.


One of the reasons Henry Mercer went into the tile business 
is because he appreciated pre Industrial Revolution hand-made work. 
He didn't like everything matchy-matchy so to speak.


His castle-home, museum, and tile factory all reflect that fact.


I appreciate that about him. 
It makes life so much more interesting. 


It helps to have a very rich aunt support your interests! 
Um, Henry had the rich aunt, not me! 

Below is his castle home, 
designed and built by Henry Mercer. 
And he received no training in architecture or construction. 
He was trained in the law, but never practiced it. 


He built in concrete to prevent his collections of
early Americana from being destroyed by fire.
He really must have been a genius.




18 comments:

tinajo said...

Interesting - thanks for sharing! :-)

Susan said...

Wow...this is just amazing. Great shots♥

Gina Kleinworth said...

What a really great place!!!

Kathy said...

An interesting entrepreneur. Good luck on your mag submission. Do you submit text also or just photos?

Anonymous said...

Such grand photos perfect for this week's theme!

Anonymous said...

These are so great.

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos! I love the first one through the window, what a great frame and lovely colors. And that night shot! Simply amazing! Thank you for sharing!

Jama said...

What a great looking palace!

Unknown said...

Such interesting info, Rebecca! Love the chimneys! It takes more creativity to have things NOT matching, and still fitting together:)

Heather said...

I enjoyed reading that!
Those Kiln Stacks are beautiful
Great photos, I love the night shot its beautiful.

Kim, USA said...

I like your post. I look at the first photo and yes I could tell the owner has an eye of great and beautiful things. Thanks for sharing.

FMTSO

GingerV said...

I enjoyed this post. I like to hear the story behind... my fav picture is the stacks framed by the window. I love this type of shot - hugs from Brazil

GingerV said...

I enjoyed this post. I like to hear the story behind... my fav picture is the stacks framed by the window. I love this type of shot - hugs from Brazil

Unknown said...

His castle reminds me of The Biltmore Estate in Ashville NC. I don't know this name but will look him up some great shops here.
QMM

Bagman and Butler said...

Absolutely facinating blog - I had never heard of him before. I'm sure it is going to make a beautiful magazine piece. His tile chimneys are great.

A Scattering said...

I can't possibly pick a favorite - they're all great and the story is so interesting. Love the tile detail in the first shot.

Kerry said...

These are great shots; the magazine would be crazy not to gobble these up! Everything is almost storybook-like. So interesting. Reminds me just a bit of Gaudi in Barcelona.

Pauline said...

Most of us could have as many rich aunts as we could imagine and never dream of creating something so fascinating. (That goes for your images as well.) I'm not a fan of matchy-matchy - love the kiln stacks through the window!