You'd never know, from walking around this quiet, residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, that inside one of the houses is a (taxidermized) bear. Or a full-sized lighthouse. Or a secret passage through a fireplace.

Outside, there's vinyl siding. But the insides of the four Troy Hill Art Houses are art installations that yank visitors into four very different worlds.

The latest, "Mrs. Christopher's House," which opened this fall, is from conceptual artist Mark Dion, whose work has been shown at the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He's best known for thinking about how we collect and display objects, what it says about us and how we think about the past.

You'd never know, from walking around this quiet, residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, that inside one of the houses is a (taxidermized) bear. Or a full-sized lighthouse. Or a secret passage through a fireplace.

Outside, there's vinyl siding. But the insides of the four Troy Hill Art Houses are art installations that yank visitors into four very different worlds.

The latest, "Mrs. Christopher's House," which opened this fall, is from conceptual artist Mark Dion, whose work has been shown at the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He's best known for thinking about how we collect and display objects, what it says about us and how we think about the past.

You'd never know, from walking around this quiet, residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, that inside one of the houses is a (taxidermized) bear. Or a full-sized lighthouse. Or a secret passage through a fireplace.

Outside, there's vinyl siding. But the insides of the four Troy Hill Art Houses are art installations that yank visitors into four very different worlds.

The latest, "Mrs. Christopher's House," which opened this fall, is from conceptual artist Mark Dion, whose work has been shown at the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He's best known for thinking about how we collect and display objects, what it says about us and how we think about the past.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.

Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.

"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.

You'd never know, from walking around this quiet, residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, that inside one of the houses is a (taxidermized) bear. Or a full-sized lighthouse. Or a secret passage through a fireplace.
Outside, there's vinyl siding. But the insides of the four Troy Hill Art Houses are art installations that yank visitors into four very different worlds.
The latest, "Mrs. Christopher's House," which opened this fall, is from conceptual artist Mark Dion, whose work has been shown at the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He's best known for thinking about how we collect and display objects, what it says about us and how we think about the past.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.

Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.

"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.

Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.

"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.

Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.

"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.
Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.
"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.

It can be hard to get a foothold in today's tough housing market. Bob Nicholson would know: He sold his home last year but is now struggling to find a new one he can afford.

Until last June, the 58-year-old was the owner of a townhome in Burke, Va., a moderately expensive suburb of Washington, D.C.

"It was an end unit. It had a large backyard, fireplace, in a nice community here in Burke," he says.