Rhyolite was a the center of Nevada's gold mining district. It went from boomtown to bust in just six years. In 1906, there were 10,000 residents but, by 1920, there were only 14. In 1925, Paramount Pictures discovered the Bottle House and had it restored and re-roofed for a movie. It then operated as a museum for awhile but tourists were scarce.

From 1936-1954, Lewis Murphey took care of the house and invited tourists to visit. This was the beginning of ghost town tourism in Rhyolite. From 1954-1969, Tommy Thompson lived there and raised eight children. Thompson built the miniature buildings shown in the bottom row above. He was the last inhabitant. He tried to repair the house with concrete. However, because the concrete absorbed the desert heat, this caused many of the bottles to crack. The House fell into bad shape from earthquakes and weather. Then in 2005, it was repaired and a new roof was installed. The House is one of the few buildings left standing in the town.