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House of the Double Atrium (Casa a due atri) Herculaneum)

The house with two atriums was named after the unusual architecture of this building. The house with two atriums is located on the east side of Cardo III Street, in the middle of Insula VI. The house had an impressive entrance with a smart facade, almost entirely consisting of an opus reticulatum. Most of the second floor was destroyed by volcanic flows. But part of the facade is still preserved. There are two small windows on the ground floor, one of which still retains its original iron grilles. Also, two windows are preserved on the second floor of the building. A terracotta mask hangs above the entrance to avert the evil eye. Historians have called this mask the head of the Gorgon Medusa, although this mask is not very similar to it. The house has an unusual narrow layout. Perhaps this is due to the lack of available land.

The corridor (a), which has lost all traces of its decoration, opens onto the first of two atriums (b) or the living room of the house. The roof was held by four brick columns. The atrium has a central pool for collecting rainwater, which fell through the opening. The rooms were located only on the east and west sides of the atrium. Only a small part of the atrium decoration has been preserved, only a few remains of stucco have been preserved today on the walls from the east and west, which gave archaeologists the opportunity to determine the original decor of the third style, which, it seems, consisted of red and white panels with decorative borders. Kitchen (c) is located at the southwest corner of the atrium. The kitchen had a L-shaped worktop, on which a small oven was placed. In the southwestern corner, next to the work surface, there was a restroom. The kitchen was lit by a small square window in the western wall.

On the east side of the atrium is the central bedroom or a table (d). This room opens directly into both atriums and is consecrated by a small window in its north wall, providing light to the next room.