Hartwood mansion dining room goes Asian for the holidays

Amber Bierkan thinks about Christmas decorations year-round.

Bierkan, of Hampton, volunteers her time and talents each year to decorate a room in the Tudor mansion at Hartwood Acres Park, which straddles Indiana and Hampton townships in northern Allegheny County.

This year, she raised a few eyebrows when she ventured outside tradition, opting for an Asian theme in the dining room.

"I knew we could make it work, and we're always looking for something new to bring people to Hartwood," Bierkan said. "If it's the same thing, why come back?"

Her inspiration was a Mughal painting by Balchand she saw in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London: "Three Princes Going Hunting." In it she saw the connection to the Christmas season and the Lawrence family who once lived in the mansion.

The painting features three men on horseback -- just like the three Lawrence men who owned and rode horses. The three men on horseback conjured for Bierkan images of the three wise men.

In May 1916, Mary Lawrence attended a suffragette costume ball with an Asian theme. A copy of a newspaper article about the event that includes a photograph of the Lawrences sits on display in the room.

"We try to connect all the dots," Bierkan said. "Every year, I try to pay attention to the detail."

Bierkan found many of the decorations in the Pittsburgh area, but it still took her five trips to Chinatown in New York to fill out the room.

Sharon Schweizer, a docent at the Mansion, said visitors to Hartwood come away impressed.

"They're blown away with the perfection, the quality and the originality," Schweizer said. "We're always really excited to show that room."

Bierkan hopes that visitors to the mansion appreciate the room uniqueness and its connections to the past.

"I'd like people to come away with the feeling that this is an attractive room and it's a little different," she said. "It's Asian, and most people don't think of Asian as Christmas."

Additional Information:

If you go

Where : Hartwood Mansion, 200 Hartwood Acres

When : 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday

Admission : $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and children ages 13-17, $2 for children ages 6 to 12, and $1 for children age 5 and younger

Contact : 412-4-767-9200