The site of the House of the Oil Merchant was originally called 'Blegen's House', then the 'House of the Stirrup Jars' and finally became known as House of the Oil Merchant. As excavation at the House of the Oil Merchant extended, the adjoining 'north house' (House of Shields) and 'south house' (House of Sphinxes) were revealed and ultimately named after the predominant patterns evident in ivory carvings found within.