The houses of Pompeii provide one of the most extraordinary records of domestic life in the Roman world. Preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, they range from modest dwellings and houses connected with workshops to enormous residences decorated with frescoes, mosaics, marble, gardens and fountains.
Much of the urban area of Pompeii was occupied by private houses. The wealthiest inhabitants lived in large domus, some of which developed over several centuries as neighbouring properties were purchased, joined together or transformed. Other houses incorporated shops, workshops, gardens or spaces that could be rented to provide an income.
There was therefore no single model of a Pompeian house. Architecture depended on the period, the wealth of the owners, the size of the plot and the changing needs of the household. The buildings preserved today allow us to observe not only how Romans lived, but also how their homes changed as families became richer, fashions evolved and the city recovered from earthquakes.
The Roman domus
Many Pompeian houses were organised around an atrium, the principal reception area of the traditional Roman domus.
Visitors entered through a passage leading towards the atrium, where an opening in the roof known as the compluvium allowed light and rainwater to enter. The water fell into the impluvium, a basin set into the floor, and could then be channelled into an underground cistern for domestic use.
Rooms were arranged around the atrium. These included cubicula, generally interpreted as bedrooms or private rooms, dining and reception spaces and the tablinum, usually positioned on the main axis of the house. The functions of individual rooms were not necessarily as fixed as those of a modern house and could change according to circumstances.
In larger residences the atrium often led towards a peristyle, a garden surrounded by columns. Gardens became one of the most important features of wealthy Pompeian houses and could contain fountains, pools, sculpture, flowerbeds and outdoor dining areas.
Architecture, paintings, mosaics and gardens were carefully combined to create impressive views through the house. From the entrance, a visitor could sometimes see across the atrium and reception rooms towards the greenery and fountains of the garden beyond.
House of the Faun
The House of the Faun – VI.12,2 is one of the largest and most famous residences in Pompeii. Occupying almost an entire city block, it represents the extraordinary wealth achieved by the Pompeian elite during the late Samnite and Republican periods.
The house is organised around two atria and two large peristyles and takes its modern name from the celebrated bronze statue of a dancing faun discovered beside the impluvium.
Its most famous decoration was the monumental Alexander Mosaic, depicting Alexander the Great confronting the Persian king Darius III. The original was removed from the house and is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Other mosaics included animals, theatrical subjects and a remarkable Nilotic scene. Together they demonstrate the strong influence of Hellenistic art and culture on the owners of one of Pompeii's richest houses.
The extensive architecture of the House of the Faun also reveals how elite houses could grow through successive transformations, eventually becoming monumental residences intended to impress visitors as much as to accommodate the family.
For more on this extraordinary form of decoration, see Mosaics in Pompeii.
House of the Vettii
The House of the Vettii – VI.15,1 is one of Pompeii's best-known and most richly decorated residences.
It is associated with Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, wealthy freedmen whose social advancement is reflected in the extraordinary decoration of their home. Near the entrance, the famous image of Priapus weighing his enormous phallus against a bag of money provides an unmistakable symbol of fertility, prosperity and wealth. The Archaeological Park identifies the Vettii as prominent members of the freedman class who displayed their success through the luxury of their residence.
Much of the house is organised around an elegant peristyle garden, surrounded by reception and dining rooms decorated with elaborate Fourth Style paintings.
Among the most celebrated decorations is a long frieze depicting Cupids carrying out different trades and activities, including wine making, metalworking, perfume production and the sale of goods.
The House of the Vettii is particularly important for understanding the relationship between wealth and social mobility in Pompeii during the final decades of the city's existence.
For more about its paintings and the development of Roman wall decoration, see Pompeian Painting.
House of the Menander
The House of the Menander – I.10,4 is one of the largest and most elegant residences in Regio I.
Its modern name derives from a painting depicting the Greek playwright Menander. The house developed through several phases and combines the traditional architecture of the Roman domus with extensive reception areas and a large peristyle.
The residence is particularly famous for an exceptional collection of silverware discovered during excavation. The objects had been carefully stored beneath the building and provide extraordinary evidence of the wealth of the household.
At the time of the eruption, parts of the house were still undergoing repair and renovation, offering further evidence of the extensive building activity taking place in Pompeii during its final years.
The House of the Menander was one of the great residences of the local elite and the Archaeological Park associates it with a branch of the family of Poppaea Sabina, wife of Emperor Nero.
House of the Tragic Poet
The House of the Tragic Poet – VI.8,3-5 is considerably smaller than the House of the Faun or the House of the Menander, yet its decoration was of exceptional quality.
It is famous above all for the mosaic at its entrance showing a chained dog accompanied by the inscription CAVE CANEM, “Beware of the dog”, one of the best-known images from Pompeii.
The house takes its modern name from a mosaic depicting actors preparing for a theatrical performance.
Its reception rooms were decorated with important mythological scenes, many inspired by the Trojan War and Greek mythology. Several original works were removed during the 19th-century excavations and are now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The House of the Tragic Poet demonstrates particularly clearly that the prestige of a Pompeian residence cannot be judged by its dimensions alone: a relatively compact house could contain an extremely sophisticated decorative programme.
House of Sallust
The House of Sallust – VI.2,4 is among the most important residences for understanding the early development of the Pompeian house.
Its origins date back to the Samnite period, and the property preserves important examples of First Style wall decoration, characterised by painted and stuccoed surfaces imitating blocks and slabs of expensive stone.
The house developed around a traditional atrium and was modified repeatedly during its long history. Later interventions introduced new rooms and decorations while preserving substantial parts of the older residence.
Its combination of early architecture and subsequent transformations makes the House of Sallust particularly valuable for following the evolution of domestic architecture at Pompeii over several centuries.
House of the Citharist
The House of the Citharist – I.4,25 is one of the largest residences in Pompeii and was created by progressively joining several neighbouring properties.
Its name derives from the discovery of a bronze statue of Apollo playing the cithara, now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The enormous residence was organised around several open spaces and included multiple peristyles, gardens and richly decorated reception rooms.
The complex arrangement of the building is an excellent example of the way a wealthy family could gradually expand its property by incorporating adjacent houses rather than constructing an entirely new residence.
The House of the Citharist remains among the buildings included in the current official list of accessible houses published by the Archaeological Park.
House of Octavius Quartio
The House of Octavius Quartio – II.2,2, traditionally also known as the House of Loreius Tiburtinus, is particularly famous for its extraordinary garden.
Although the residential part of the property occupies only a portion of the plot, the garden extends over a large area and was organised around long water channels decorated with fountains, sculpture and paintings.
Outdoor dining spaces allowed the inhabitants and their guests to eat while surrounded by water and vegetation. The garden architecture created a sophisticated setting in which nature, painting, sculpture and hydraulic engineering became part of a single decorative composition.
The house demonstrates the growing importance of gardens and outdoor living in Pompeian domestic architecture during the Roman Imperial period.
House of Venus in the Shell
The House of Venus in the Shell – II.3,3 takes its name from the spectacular painting that dominates the rear wall of its garden.
At the centre appears Venus reclining in a shell, accompanied by Cupids and surrounded by imagery associated with the sea and an idealised garden.
The painted scene was designed to interact with the real garden in front of it, visually extending the space beyond the physical boundary of the wall.
This relationship between real vegetation and painted landscape is one of the most characteristic features of Pompeian garden decoration.
The house is particularly useful for understanding how domestic gardens were transformed into carefully designed spaces of leisure, colour and illusion.
House of the Orchard
The House of the Orchard – I.9,5, also known as the House of the Floral Cubicles, is famous for some of the most remarkable garden paintings preserved in Pompeii.
Rather than being confined to an outdoor garden, luxuriant vegetation was painted across the walls of interior rooms. Trees, plants, birds and ornamental objects create the illusion that the enclosed spaces open directly onto an ideal garden.
The result is one of the finest demonstrations of the Roman fascination with nature and the ability of wall painting to transform relatively small rooms.
The extraordinary preservation of these compositions makes the House of the Orchard particularly important for the study of Roman garden painting.
House of the Ephebe
The House of the Ephebe – I.7,10-12 was formed by combining several earlier properties into a large and luxurious residence.
Its modern name derives from the discovery of a beautiful bronze statue of a young man, or ephebe, which had been adapted in antiquity to function as a lamp bearer.
Some of the most prestigious rooms overlooked the garden. A large dining room contained an exceptional floor in opus sectile, composed of pieces of coloured stone and marble.
The garden also included an outdoor dining area decorated with an extensive Nilotic landscape, demonstrating once again the popularity of Egyptian imagery among Pompeii's wealthy inhabitants.
Evidence that objects had been moved and work was taking place within the property indicates that the house was undergoing restoration when Vesuvius erupted.
House of Paquius Proculus
The House of Paquius Proculus – I.7,1 is especially notable for its magnificent mosaic floors.
A mosaic dog appears near the entrance, while the floor of the atrium consists of a complex series of geometric panels containing animals and other decorative motifs.
The rooms beyond contained further high-quality pavements, including mosaics and stone decoration.
The identity of the ancient owner is not certain. The house has traditionally been associated with Paquius Proculus, but archaeological and epigraphic evidence has led to alternative interpretations.
Whatever the identity of its inhabitants, the richness of its floors demonstrates the importance of mosaics as a means of displaying wealth and taste within a Pompeian house.
House of the Ceii
The House of the Ceii – I.6,15 is a particularly interesting example of a residence that preserves both its architectural character and important garden decoration.
The façade retains an unusual imitation of opus quadratum, while the interior is organised around an atrium leading towards a garden.
The rear wall of the garden contains a large painted composition with wild animals and a Nilotic landscape. Such images allowed the inhabitants to transform the enclosed garden into an imaginary exotic world.
The house also preserves evidence of upper floors and domestic furnishings, making it valuable for understanding aspects of everyday life that are often less visible in the largest monumental residences.
House of the Cryptoporticus
The House of the Cryptoporticus – I.6,2 takes its name from the long covered passage situated beneath part of the residence.
The walls of the cryptoporticus were richly decorated with paintings, including a long sequence of scenes related to the Trojan War and Greek mythology.
The property was extensively modified during the 1st century AD and included private bathing facilities.
Its architecture demonstrates how large houses could make use of underground and semi-subterranean spaces as part of an increasingly complex domestic arrangement.
House of the Dioscuri
The House of the Dioscuri – VI.9,6-7 was one of the largest and most richly decorated residences in this part of Pompeii.
Its modern name comes from paintings of Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, which once decorated the entrance.
The house contained large atria, a peristyle and reception rooms decorated with important mythological paintings. Many of the finest original panels were removed during the early excavations and transferred to Naples.
The quality of the surviving architecture and decoration places the House of the Dioscuri among the great aristocratic residences of Pompeii.
House of the Golden Cupids
The House of the Golden Cupids – VI.16,7 takes its name from small figures of Cupids engraved on gold leaf and protected between thin glass discs.
The residence belonged to a wealthy family and was organised around a particularly elegant peristyle.
Its decoration reveals a striking mixture of cultural influences. Alongside traditional Roman and Greek imagery were objects and motifs connected with Egyptian religion and the cult of Isis, reflecting the cosmopolitan character of Pompeian society.
The garden, sculpture and religious imagery make this one of the most refined examples of domestic decoration in the city.
House of the Silver Wedding
The House of the Silver Wedding – V.2,i received its modern name after being excavated in 1893, the year of the silver wedding anniversary of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Italy.
It is an important example of a large aristocratic residence that underwent numerous transformations during its history.
Particularly impressive is the monumental Corinthian atrium, where tall columns give the central space an architectural grandeur unusual in the traditional Pompeian house.
The building also preserves evidence of different phases of wall decoration and demonstrates how elite residences could be repeatedly modernised while retaining older architectural elements.
House of the Centenary
The House of the Centenary – IX.8,6 is one of Pompeii's largest residential complexes.
Archaeological research has shown that the area originally contained several separate houses. These were progressively combined until, by the Augustan period, a monumental residence with two atria and a large peristyle had developed.
After the earthquakes of the 1st century AD, the functions of some parts of the property changed and certain areas were adapted for more practical or economically productive activities.
The House of the Centenary therefore provides an excellent example of the long-term evolution of a Pompeian property, from separate early houses to a monumental domus and finally to the transformations of the final decades before the eruption.
House of the Surgeon
The House of the Surgeon – VI.1,10 is one of the most important buildings for understanding the earliest phases of domestic architecture in Pompeii.
Its simple plan and construction preserve characteristics of an early atrium house.
The modern name derives from the discovery of a remarkable collection of medical and surgical instruments, including probes and scalpels. The finds led excavators to suggest that a physician may have lived or worked in the property.
As with many modern names assigned to Pompeian buildings, however, this identification should be treated cautiously because the discovery of objects does not necessarily prove the profession or identity of the owner.
House of the Lovers
The House of the Lovers – I.10,11 is particularly famous because its peristyle preserves an unusually complete upper level, allowing visitors to understand more clearly the appearance of multi-storey domestic architecture.
Its modern name derives from an inscription referring to lovers found within the building.
The survival of its upper structures makes the house especially valuable because the eruption, later excavation and exposure to the elements caused the loss of most upper floors throughout Pompeii.
The residence therefore helps reconstruct an aspect of the ancient city that is easily overlooked today: many streets were originally lined with two-storey buildings, balconies and upper rooms.
Gardens and outdoor living
Gardens were fundamental to the design of many Pompeian houses.
In wealthy residences the peristyle formed a carefully constructed transition between architecture and nature. Columns framed trees, flowerbeds, fountains, pools and sculpture, while dining and reception rooms were positioned to take advantage of these views.
Painted gardens could extend the illusion even further. Birds, trees, fountains and imaginary landscapes covered boundary walls, making the real garden appear larger than it actually was.
The Houses of Venus in the Shell, Octavius Quartio, the Orchard and the Ceii show several different ways in which Pompeian owners combined real and painted nature.
Not every garden was purely decorative. Some properties also contained areas used for growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and other plants.
Houses, workshops and commerce
A Pompeian house was not necessarily separated from economic activity.
Shops frequently occupied rooms opening directly onto the street while forming part of a larger residential property. Other houses were transformed partly or completely into workshops.
A particularly clear example is the Fullonica of Stephanus, where a former residence was adapted for the washing and processing of textiles.
The Praedia of Julia Felix provide another remarkable example. This vast property combined residential areas, gardens, bathing facilities and spaces intended to generate income.
Such buildings show how closely home, work and commerce could be connected in the ancient city.
Decoration and social status
The decoration of a house communicated the identity, wealth and aspirations of its inhabitants.
Wall paintings, mosaics, marble, sculpture, fountains and furniture were arranged to impress visitors and to create carefully controlled sequences of spaces.
Greek mythology played an especially important role in elite decoration. Stories involving Achilles, Theseus, Hercules, Dionysus, Venus and other gods and heroes transformed the walls of reception rooms into displays of culture and education.
Other subjects included landscapes, gardens, animals, still lifes, portraits and scenes of everyday activity.
To explore these decorative traditions in greater detail, see Pompeian Painting and Mosaics in Pompeii.
Beyond the city walls: the Villa of the Mysteries
Just outside Pompeii, beyond Herculaneum Gate, stands one of the most famous Roman residences in the Vesuvian area: the Villa of the Mysteries.
The large suburban villa combined luxurious residential rooms with areas associated with agricultural production.
Its fame derives above all from the extraordinary painted cycle preserved in one of its rooms. Almost life-size figures appear against an intense red background in a sequence generally connected with Dionysian ritual, although the precise interpretation of the entire composition remains debated.
The paintings are among the greatest surviving masterpieces of Roman art and provide one of the most spectacular examples of the Second Pompeian Style.
Because the villa lies outside the ancient city walls, additional time should be allowed if you intend to include it in your visit.
Which houses should you see in Pompeii?
Visitors rarely have enough time to see every accessible house. For a first visit, the House of the Faun, House of the Vettii, House of the Menander, House of the Tragic Poet, House of Octavius Quartio and House of Venus in the Shell provide an excellent introduction to the variety of Pompeian domestic architecture.
The House of the Faun illustrates the wealth and Hellenistic culture of the Republican elite; the House of the Vettii preserves exceptional late Pompeian painting; the House of the Menander demonstrates the scale of an aristocratic residence; the House of the Tragic Poet combines modest dimensions with sophisticated decoration; and the houses of Octavius Quartio and Venus in the Shell reveal the importance of gardens, fountains and outdoor living.
The Villa of the Mysteries should also be considered one of the highlights of a longer visit.
Visiting the houses of Pompeii
Not all houses are open every day. Individual buildings may be temporarily inaccessible because of conservation work, restoration, maintenance or visitor management, while some can only be viewed from outside.
The Archaeological Park maintains an updated list of buildings that can currently be visited. Check the official list of open buildings in Pompeii shortly before your visit. The current list includes, among others, the House of the Faun, House of the Vettii, House of the Menander, House of the Tragic Poet, House of the Citharist, House of the Ephebe, House of Octavius Quartio and House of Venus in the Shell.
You can also consult our Pompeii Map to plan your route through the archaeological site.
The houses of Pompeii should not be viewed simply as isolated monuments. Together they reveal a city whose inhabitants continually adapted their homes to changes in family life, wealth, social status, business and fashion.
From the monumental House of the Faun and richly painted House of the Vettii to smaller residences, commercial properties and garden houses, each building preserves a different part of the everyday history of Pompeii.