The Rock House is the oldest surviving structure in Wytheville, built in 1827 of local limestone by Dr. John Haller, a German immigrant who became one of the first physicians in this part of the Virginia frontier. The construction technique — rough-cut limestone blocks, thick walls, small windows — reflects both the available materials and the practical needs of a house in a still-unsettled region. The house has been preserved in better condition than most structures of its age in the area.
Now operated as a museum by the Town of Wytheville, the Rock House is furnished with period pieces and contains exhibits on early frontier life in the Blue Ridge Highlands — the German and Scots-Irish immigration that shaped this part of Appalachia, the daily routines of a 19th-century household, and the region's gradual development from frontier to established community. Small admission fee; the guided tour runs about 45 minutes and covers the history of the house's successive owners, each of whom left their mark on the record. The house is on the edge of the historic district, a short walk from Main Street.