The House of the Paintings is one of two Hadrianic medianum apartments to the west of the large garden in the Insula of the Paintings. The apartment received light and was accessible from the garden and from the apparently unpaved Via dei Dipinti to the west.

The medianum (6) is flanked by the representative rooms 3 and 10, that have high ceilings. An internal staircase in room 9 led to the first floor. Other apartments on the upper floors were reached via stairwell 1.

Plan of the houses in the block, Hadrianic phase.
Ground floor (top) and first floor (bottom).
North is to the left. DeLaine 1995, fig. 5,2.

In the later second century some modifications took place in rooms 5 and 7. In the Severan period the doors leading from the garden to the medianum and to the external staircase were blocked. The paintings that gave the building its name are lost.

Plan of the houses in the block, Severan period.
Ground floor (top) and first floor (bottom).
North is to the left. DeLaine 1995, fig. 5,4.