History & local legend
Fonthill Castle in Doylestown was the home of Henry Chapman Mercer, an archaeologist, collector, and tile maker. Built in the early twentieth century from reinforced concrete, it was designed to display the tiles and objects that filled his life. When Mercer died in 1930, he left the castle in a museum trust, with lifetime occupancy rights for his housekeeper, Laura Swain, and her husband, Frank.
Laura remained at Fonthill until her death in 1975 and occasionally led visitors through the house. That long association explains the identity given to its best-known ghost. In local accounts, a woman believed to be Laura walks the corridors and continues the housekeeping duties she performed during her lifetime. A 2014 Bucks County Travel Guide retelling describes workers and visitors seeing her in the hallways.
