Description of the House (Reg V, Ins 2, i) Also known as the House of L. Albucius Celsus this house was first excavated in 1893, the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary of the reigning Italian royal family, Umberto and Margherita of Savoy. .. Built in the 2nd century BC, it retains much of its original layout. The atrium (B) is especially monumental: with its four tall Corinthian columns set around a large impluvium it is generally considered to be the finest tetrastyle in Pompeii. Next to the impluvium is a marble pedestal which served as a fountain. .. .. The tablinum (C) lies directly opposite the entrance on the far wall of the atrium while to the left is the triclinium (D) which opens onto the peristyle (E). The peristyle (below) has a higher roofline on one side supported by large doric columns. In the central garden were found glazed Egyptian style statuettes of animals (pictured right). .. .. In the cubilula the alcoves for the couches are plain, with a decorated strip, geometric in one room, vegetal in the other, in front of them. The front part of both rooms has a black and white geometric 'carpet', while polychrome strips, geometric of vegetal, run across the thresholds. .. Towards the south, the house opens onto an even larger peristyle which has a pool in its centre and the remains of an open air triclinium. .. The compluviate roof has palmette antefixes and lion-headed gutter spouts. . .. To the right is the kitchen area and bath suite. The bath suite comprises a caldarium, an apodyterium, a tepidarium and a pool in the garden behind, which serves as a frigidarium. The garden also has a summer triclinium. Off the peristyle are several rooms decorated in the second style including the two cubicula, one of which is pictured below. .. .

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------