This publication presents the phenomenon of the visual culture of the housing architecture of the 19th and early 20th century in the Czech Republic. The theme comprises painting, sculpture and sculpture-plaster decorations of exteriors and interiors of tenement houses, entrepreneurs´ palaces and villas. Numerous designs, templates and models for painting and plastic decorations on buildings have survived to date (e.g. by Viktor Barvitius, Mikoláš Aleš, Celda Klouček and others), documenting the variety and importance of the architectural decorations from the period of historicisms up to Art Nouveau and Modernism.