Troy Hill Art Houses is an ambitious and innovative project founded by Pittsburgh-based collector Evan Mirapaul. Drawing inspiration from the art houses in Naoshima, Japan, Mirapaul envisioned reimagining domestic spaces as immersive, permanent works of art accessible to the public.
The project began in 2011 when Mirapaul invited German artist Thorsten Brinkmann to transform an abandoned house in Troy Hill—a hilltop neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—into a total-structure art installation. The result, La Hütte Royal, opened to public acclaim in 2013. Encouraged by its success, Mirapaul expanded the project by acquiring additional houses, each to be reimagined by a different artist. In 2016, Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski unveiled Kunzhaus, the second art house. The project’s influence attracted artists Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis, who proposed an architecturally bold third house. After years of collaboration, Darkhouse Lighthouse, featuring a lighthouse within an existing home, opened in 2022.
Most recently, the Art Houses expanded with Mrs. Christopher’s House by Mark Dion, which debuted in October 2024. We were engaged to promote this latest addition, continuing to elevate Troy Hill as a destination where art transforms the everyday into the extraordinary.
