Black Lounge domus, Roman residential building in Ercolano, Italy

The Casa del Salone Nero is a 395-square-metre domus built in opus reticulatum with some opus incertum, entered directly from the decumanus maximus through a tufa frame and white limestone threshold. Its atrium holds a marble-lined impluvium, and the peristyle's stuccoed columns are set so the small garden stays visible, with a 62-cm marble column at its centre. The black-walled oecus that gives the house its name lies on the west side.

The building dates from the Roman period and was preserved under volcanic deposits during Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE. This natural preservation kept the structure intact for nearly two millennia.

The house is named for its oecus, a reception room whose walls and vaulted ceiling are painted in Fourth Style with black panels and geometric motifs. Twenty wax tablets of L. Venidius Ennychus were found here, recording his eligibility as augustalis, his daughter's birth and the purchase of a slave.

The building is located within the archaeological site and forms part of the larger Herculaneum complex. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes and move carefully on the uneven surfaces of the ancient ruins.

The house features an ingenious water management system that collected rainwater through a roof opening and directed it into a basin in the atrium. This system reveals how Romans understood practical water solutions for urban homes.