The owner of the House of Menander was wealthy as is indicated by the fact that it had a private bath decorated with parodying painting of the gods and a phallic mosaic pointing the way.
In the roman single-family domus home (as opposed to an insula or villa) the house was divided into the atrium and peristyle. The peristyle held the private areas of the home and was centered on a colonnaded outdoor area.
For comprehensive information on Pompeii, see The Fires of Vesuvius, by Mary Beard.
