Thanks to its large size and particular typology, this house can be defined a 'villa'. It extends over an area corresponding to two insulae, of which one-third is occupied by the building proper and two-thirds were used as a vegetable garden.
After the earthquake of 62 A.D., the owner of this sumptuous and elegant house, Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius, decided to ease the difficulties caused by the shortage of accommodation by renting out part of the house. As the Forum Baths could be used only in part, she also opened her private baths to the public. The notice painted on the facade reads "elegant bathing facilities, shops with annexed apartments upstairs and independent apartments on the first floor are offered for rent to respectable people". Also the maximum lease term, a period of five years "from August 1st next to August 1st of the sixth year", is specified.
The house was divided into three parts. The baths, with access from Via dell'Abbondanza, were provided with all the required facilities and an open swimming-pool. The owner's apartment looks out onto a magnificent garden with a water channel surrounded on all sides by original marble-embellished quadrangular columns.
Lastly there were the shops, some of which opened onto Via dell'Abbondanza and some onto the side-street leading to the Large Palaestra. The rented lodgings were also situated on this side-street. The sculptures which decorated the garden and some of the paintings found in the house are now on show at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, while a Fresco with Apollo and the Muses is exhibited in the Louvre, Paris.
Gallery 3
