The result is very modern, particularly toward the back of the home: The dining room opens to the midcentury-modern and Japanese-influenced wood-and-steel kitchen, where double-panel cabinet doors are made from laser-cut steel and feature an abstract design modeled after a historic map of the neighborhood.

WSJ: The House With a Surprise Inside

The production, created for the Welsh National Opera, was abstract and minimalist: Johan Engels's design featured a semicircle of dark bleachers and a forest of tilted black crosses that appeared intermittently, representing trees or pillars, and serving as a reminder of the overwhelming power of the Catholic Church.

WSJ: Mary Stuart | Don Carlos | Houston Grand Opera | Soprano Showdown in Houston | Opera Reviews by Heidi Waleson

Although the design was, inevitably, controversial, the vast and abstract form is a bold attempt to convey the incomprehensible magnitude of the Holocaust.

CNN: The story