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Apr 23 2008, 10:01 AM EDT	clemio
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House of Menander (Reg I, Ins 10, 4)

This house once belonged to Quintus Poppeus, a relative of Poppea Sabina, the second wife of Nero. The house is so called after a famous painting of the Greek playwright Menander found in an exedra at the back of the peristyle. It was originally built in the 3rd century BC and was added to and altered many times over its history. The atrium is decorated in fourth style paintings depicting scenes from the Illiad. The andron connecting the atrium with the tablinum is lined with columns decorated with stucco. .. The west side of the peristyle consists of private baths which are centered on a columned atrium. After the dressing room is the caldarium with fourth style frescos. On the west side of the atrium is a sun terrace. The southern side of the peristyle has a series of rectangular and semi-circular exedras. The first exedra contains a lararium while in the third is the famous painting of Menander. On the eastern side of the peristyle is an oecus with yellow walls painted in the fourth style and next to it a large triclinium, the largest found in Pompeii. The servants' quarters are reached via a ramp near the eastern corner of the peristyle.

.. Beyond the tablinum is the peristyle and, on the right, the so called Green Room, decorated with murals and a mosaic floor depicting scenes of the Nile. ..

House of the Ceii (Reg I, Ins 6, 15)

The house is also known under two other titles - the House of L. Ceius Secundus and the House of Fabia and Tyrannus. Its facade, of imitation marble stucco, is still largely intact and still bears signs of grafitti.

Its roof overhangs the footway and entrance to the building is by way of a simple, but elegant doorway.

Inside is a small atrium with four stuccoed columns. Off this, a stairway leads to the upper floor.

The building retains many of its original wall paintings, done mainly in the fourth style. On the left is a hunt scene on the north wall of the garden.

House of the Diaduomeni (Reg IX, Ins 1, 20)

Also known as the House of M. Epidius Rufus, this building stands on a raised podium, its entrance being about 1.3m above street level (access being by way of a narrow flight of steps at either end of the podium). It was first excavated between 1858 and 1866.

A Samnite house, it was built in the second half of the 2nd century BC. The atrium roof was supported by 16 Doric columns. On the east and west sides of the atrium are two areas separated from the atrium by matching sets of columns.

On the north side of the atrium is the tablinum and beyond that the triclinium which retains traces of paintings.

House of Trebius Valens (Reg III, Ins 2, 1)

This house lies on the north side of Via dell Abbondanza and was first excavated in 1915.

The facade of the building held evidence of several electoral graffiti together with adverts for events at the amphitheatre. Unfortunately the facade and much of the front area of the building was destroyed by a bomb in 1943.

The interior was excavated after restoration work in 1952. The atrium is fairly plain, but it is the unusual checkered polychrome decoration of the back wall of the garden, glimpsed through the tablinum, that catches the eye (left).

The paintings in the house are mainly in the third style while one of the bedrooms is decorated in the second style.

In the garden, against the checkerboard decorated wall, is the summer triclinium sheltered by a pergola. It is served from the kitchen via a special service-hatch.

House of Paquius Proculus (Reg I, Ins 7, 1)

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This house, otherwise known as the House of Cuspius Pansa was excavated between 1923 and 1926. It is a relatively small building, but it does have a large peristyle. It had extensive mosaic flooring, from the vestibule with its mosaic of a guard dog chained to a door, through to the atrium which is literally covered with mosaic panels of animals. Around the impluvium the mosiac depicts an arched colonnade with symbolic figures between some of the columns.

In the centre of the triclinium is an Egyptian scene of the Nile valley. The garden contained an unusually shaped fountain. Several skeletons of children were discovered in a room off the peristyle. The portrait of Paquius Procolus and his wife, pictured left, was found in the house and can now be seen at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

House of Octavius Quartio (Reg II, Ins 2, 2)

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.. The entrance leads to a large atrium with an artificial impluvium surrounded by a border for plants. The picture (right) is of a room in the house. ..

This house is also known as the House of Loreius Tiburtinus. It was first excavated in 1916. It is an impressive building with an extensive garden to the rear. The entrance, with its seating for the patrons clients, is flanked by two shops (originally two rooms of the property). .. The atrium opens directly onto a small peristyle (pictured left) which in turn leads onto a porticoed garden with a 'T' shaped canal bordered with statuary running for the entire length. Two cubicula open off the peristyle while opposite there is an oecus. At the eastern end of the 'T' shaped canal (pictured above) is a biclinium for outdoor dining. In the middle of the long canal is a monumental fountain.