DOYLESTOWN, PA—If you see construction equipment outside of Fonthill Castle later this month, it will probably be part of a program to inspect the outside walls of the building.
Fonthill Castle has received a grant to evaluate the state of the stucco on the building’s exterior walls. The grant, which is from the Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program, will examine not only the original stucco applied when the castle was built from 1908 through 1912, but stucco patches that have been applied over the years. The project will also examine the castle’s cornices.
Once the survey is complete and the stucco has been analyzed in a lab, two test patches will be applied to the castle’s outside walls. Experts will evaluate the patches at a later time.
If successful, the patches could be part of a large-scale effort to renovate and refurbish the castle’s exterior walls.
The work will mean that during the week of Feb. 27, the castle will be closed to give crews access to the wall above the main entrance to the castle.