diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
index db73217..0079cbc 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace pjdietz\WellRESTed;
  *
  * @property-read Response response The Response to the request
  */
-class Handler
+abstract class Handler
 {
     /**
      * The HTTP request to respond to.
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ class Handler
         if (method_exists($this, $method)) {
             return $this->{$method}();
         }
+        return null;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -140,7 +141,7 @@ class Handler
      */
     protected function get()
     {
-        $this->response->statusCode = 405;
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ class Handler
      */
     protected function post()
     {
-        $this->response->statusCode = 405;
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ class Handler
      */
     protected function put()
     {
-        $this->response->statusCode = 405;
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ class Handler
      */
     protected function delete()
     {
-        $this->response->statusCode = 405;
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ class Handler
      */
     protected function patch()
     {
-        $this->response->statusCode = 405;
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -206,6 +207,14 @@ class Handler
      * This method should modify the instance's response member.
      */
     protected function options()
+    {
+        $this->respondWithMethodNotAllowed();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Provide a default response for unsupported methods.
+     */
+    protected function respondWithMethodNotAllowed()
     {
         $this->response->statusCode = 405;
     }
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Message.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Message.php
index 789c15f..37e80c6 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Message.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Message.php
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ abstract class Message
         if (method_exists($this, $method)) {
             return $this->{$method}();
         }
+        return null;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ abstract class Message
      * Magic accessor method
      *
      * @param string $propertyName
-     * @return mixed
+     * @return boolean
      */
     public function __isset($propertyName)
     {
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ abstract class Message
         if (method_exists($this, $method)) {
             return $this->{$method}();
         }
+        return false;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Request.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Request.php
index c665bc3..850bc0f 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Request.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Request.php
@@ -36,35 +36,35 @@ class Request extends Message
      *
      * @var string
      */
-    protected $hostname;
+    private $hostname;
 
     /**
      * HTTP method or verb for the request
      *
      * @var string
      */
-    protected $method = 'GET';
+    private $method = 'GET';
 
     /**
      * Path component of the URI for the request
      *
      * @var string
      */
-    protected $path = '/';
+    private $path = '/';
 
     /**
      * Array of fragments of the path, delimited by slashes
      *
      * @var array
      */
-    protected $pathParts;
+    private $pathParts;
 
     /**
      * Associative array of query parameters
      *
      * @var array
      */
-    protected $query;
+    private $query;
 
     /**
      * Singleton instance derived from reading info from Apache.
@@ -363,13 +363,9 @@ class Request extends Message
     public static function getRequest()
     {
         if (!isset(self::$theRequest)) {
-
-            $klass = __CLASS__;
-            $request = new $klass();
+            $request = new Request();
             $request->readHttpRequest();
-
             self::$theRequest = $request;
-
         }
 
         return self::$theRequest;
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Response.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Response.php
index b6a9e57..d580469 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Response.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Response.php
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ class Response extends Message
      *
      * @var string
      */
-    protected $reasonPhrase;
+    private $reasonPhrase;
 
     /**
      * HTTP status code
      *
      * @var int
      */
-    protected $statusCode;
+    private $statusCode;
 
     // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Router.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Router.php
index ea12efe..9feecda 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Router.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Router.php
@@ -58,15 +58,14 @@ class Router
         $path = $request->path;
 
         foreach ($this->routes as $route) {
-
             if (preg_match($route->pattern, $path, $matches)) {
-
-                $klass = $route->handler;
-                $handler = new $klass($request, $matches);
-                return $handler->response;
-
+                if (is_subclass_of($route->handler, '\pjdietz\WellRESTed\Handler')) {
+                    $handler = new $route->handler($request, $matches);
+                    return $handler->response;
+                } else {
+                    return $this->getNoRouteResponse($request);
+                }
             }
-
         }
 
         return $this->getNoRouteResponse($request);