The house was built in the 1st century BC and underwent a number of significant changes in its internal layout. Just like in the House of the Vettii, the tablinum is sacrificed for the garden with peristylium which becomes the focal point of the house around which there are various frescoed rooms, including the enormous oecus second bigger after the House of Menander.
The back wall of the peristylium is decorated with a great and spectacular fresco of Venus, which gives the house its name. On the lower part, a luxurious garden is depicted over a barrier with exotic plants and animals. The upper part of the wall is divided into three panels with different scenes: to the right, a fountain from which birds are drinking; to the left, a statue of Mars with a spear and shield on a pedestal. In the centre, two cherubs accompany Venus, protectress of Pompeii and of the erotic sphere, lying in a large shell.
The goddess, completely naked, wears only a tiara on her head and jewellery around her neck, wrists and ankles. The house belonged to a branch of the family of the Satrii, very prominent in the last few years of the city.
Date of excavation: 1933-1935; 1951-1953.