crazy museums

while we were on the trip last weekend we went to the mercer museum and the fonthill museum both of which were insane.  both were built by henry mercer, one to house his collection of art and antique artifacts, the other for his own house.  

he was a tile maker by profession, but also loved archeology, history, art, etc.  he found it really important to collect and catalogue artifacts of everyday life, as well as art and historical objects.  he wanted his collection to be safe from fire and elements, so he built his house and his museum out of concrete, with totally inexperienced workers.  they would built what they wanted to room to be like with anything they could find and cover it with sand and concrete.  once the concrete was set, they would take out all the garbage.  they also made molds for the columns and things out of wood, so the concrete set with wood grain in it.  it was so crazy to see how much stuff he had in there.  everything from boats and carriages to old medical supplies and dishes were on the walls, in little rooms, on shelves, and even hanging from the ceiling.

unfortunately i could take any pictures inside, but the outsides were crazy too.  the picture on the left was his house, which he called his concrete castle, the one on the right is his museum.  nuts.  if you're ever in bucks county, it's definitely worth seeing.  check out this link.