Ukraine Plays Philadelphia in Hallmark’s New ‘A Holiday Spectacular’

Purported to be located in the City of Brotherly Love, Pidhirtsi Castle actually stands 1,300 feet above sea level overlooking the rural Styr River Valley in the western Ukrainian province of Lviv Oblast. The “A Holiday Spectacular” cast and crew did not actually travel to the region for the shoot, though. Instead, stock footage of the historic property was utilized for all exterior shots of the Bingham home.

Easily the film’s most eye-catching locale, the gargantuan Renaissance/Baroque-style castle was commissioned by prominent Polish military commander/royal advisor Stanislaw Koniecpolski in 1635. (At the time, the Right-bank region of Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.) For the design, Koniecpolski enlisted Venetian architect Andrea dell’Aqua and French engineer/cartographer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, who is known for having drawn the “first descriptive map of Ukraine.” The sprawling estate took five years to complete.

As detailed on the television series “Mysteries of the Abandoned,” which chronicled the castle’s history in the season eight episode titled “The Thing on Hell Mountain,” the manor bears a decided fortress-like look. And that is no accident. Narrator Steven Kearney explains, “Reflecting the violent times it was built in, the result was a unique hybrid design – an opulent grandiosity on the inside, but a brutally efficient military structure on the outside.” The configuration served the structure and its various owners well! Although Pidhirtsi Castle suffered countless attacks throughout its first 150 years, it remained largely impenetrable.

The 19th Century, consequently, was largely a time of prosperity and peace for the castle – and the region as a whole – thanks to the Partitions of Poland. In “Mysteries of the Abandoned,” military historian Dr. Lynette Nusbacher notes, “As the Austro-Hungarian Empire starts to exert control over Galicia, this part of the world, it becomes a lot more peaceful. And as Austro-Hungarian Empire policies start to make this place wealthy, this fortress becomes a jewel of a country house.”

The tranquility didn’t last, unfortunately, with World Wars I and II only bringing more turmoil, looting and bombing to the property’s formidable doors. And the ensuing years weren’t much kinder. Following WWII, the Russian government repurposed the still-grand structure as a hospital for tuberculosis patients, closing off rooms and hallways, stripping it of all of its palatial trappings and performing “various unsympathetic renovations . . . especially adaptations for drainage, water and electrical systems,” according to the World Monuments Fund. But 1956 dealt the castle its most fatal blow via a massive fire, of all things, that blazed an incredible three weeks, destroying virtually all of the interior. As Dr. Nusbacher lamented in “Mysteries of the Abandoned,” “This place that was so strong for so long, this fortress that existed for hundreds of years, built to last, was so absurdly destroyed by a simple house fire.” Pidhirtsi Castle has been in ruins ever since.

Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the property became part of the Lviv Art Gallery and the organization has been working to restore it for the past several decades. But the project is proving long and costly and little has been completed. Throughout the expansive process, the grounds and a handful of rooms have remained open to the public for tours, at least up until the recent Russian invasion. Today, the castle’s future, along with the rest of the country’s, is, sadly, up in the air.

Considering its far-flung location, fortress-like design and obvious signs of decay, Pidhirtsi Castle certainly makes for an unusual choice to portray a 1950s-era Philadelphia mansion in “A Holiday Spectacular.” But its sheer size, undeniable opulence and immense grounds convincingly illustrate the considerable wealth of the Bingham family with the first sweeping shot of the exterior at the movie’s outset.

Interior scenes involving the Bingham residence were captured a bit closer to home at the Samuel Sloan Estate, a historic dwelling located at 61 Lisburne Ln. in Garrison, N.Y., about 50 miles north of Manhattan. Known originally as Oulagisket, the handsome manse was erected in 1864 for railroad titan Samuel Sloan and his wife, Margaret. Initially Gothic in style, the property has been significantly reimagined and expanded in the years since, first by Samuel Sloan Jr. in 1907 and more recently by River Architects in 2014. Today, the sprawling Greek Revival pad, which is Leed Silver certified, features six bedrooms and nine baths in a whopping 11,800 square feet. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)

Designed for entertaining, the classical dwelling boasts an entire floor consisting of four wings crafted specifically for socialization, with a grand salon, a central gallery, a music room, a dining hall that seats 16, a library and two powder rooms. Additional amenities include a sauna, a steam room, an elevator, a commercial-grade kitchen complete with Officine Gullo, Gaggenau, Miele and Sub-Zero appliances, and an owners’ suite outfitted with two full baths and separate dressing and sitting rooms.

Surrounded by 17 well-manicured acres, the gorgeous estate was last listed for sale in 2021 at $9.5 million by Kenneth J. Moore, president and principal broker of Classiques Modernes Lifestyle & Estates, who was kind enough to share some images with Dirt.

In “A Holiday Spectacular,” Maggie is said to come from “money with a capital M” and the Sloan Estate’s traditionally elegant interiors beautifully showcase that. The production team even left some of the property’s existing fixtures intact for the shoot, including the sconces, fireplace ornamentation and drapery, all of which added up to a perfectly posh backdrop!