
The story of the Desert Telegraph Office started 150 years ago when French immigrant Edward Hubert was sent by Brigham Young from Salt Lake City to settle the town of Rockville, Utah. During the journey Edward's wife was killed when she fell from the wagon leaving Edward to raise their 4 children alone. Hubert built this beautiful french style rock house in 1864- the side wings were added later. The west wing served as the towns telegraph and post office until the turn of the century. Currently this restored home is the oldest structure in the town of Rockville.
Over the course of the next century and a half the house was neglected and completely run down. Until the early 70's when Roy & Tibby Simmons (our grandparents) fell in love with the dream of restoring this incredibly important structure to its former glory. With amazing attention to detail and dedication to the historic relevance of the time period, Roy and Tibby loved this house back to life.
In July of 1996, Josh Watkins asked his almost girlfriend to hike the Zion Canyon Narrows for his 23 birthday. Although Josh had spent many days as a child in Rockville with his grandparents, this marked the beginning of Josh & Allison memories together in Rockville.
In late 2013, Josh & Allison were finally able to make their dream a reality when they were able to purchase this "house in the desert." They plan to carry out the legacy of Roy and Tibby's historic dreams and protect this special property for future generations to enjoy.


Above photos feature the family room.

Formal Dining Area

Formal Living room
In the 1980's this room and the master bedroom were used in filming the movie "The Red Fury"

The Historic Telegraph Office

Master Bedroom features king size bed and attached full bath. Currently this wing of the house is under construction- it soon will feature all new windows and flooring.

Roy & Tibby searched all over the country to find gems like this antique bathroom vanity.


Above 2 photos feature 1st upstairs bedroom with queen bed and attached bathroom.

The 2nd upstairs bedroom features 2 double sized antique beds.

The hall way bathroom features a full 5 piece washroom.


The above 2 photos feature the 3rd upstairs bedroom with double bed.

The fully stocked gally kitchen features everything needed for cooking. Although not pictured, the house also includes a full sized washer and drier.

The Virgin River- Better then any swimming pool, the Virgin River borders the back of the property and makes a great swimming hole in the summer months!

The house is amazingly shaded by the historic pecan trees that were transplanted as saplings from France. If you come in the cooler months (Novemeber - March) plan on spending some time cracking these delicious treats. There is plenty of space to spend outside enjoying the gorgeous views of "The Eagles Nest" and "Smithsonian Butte".
HOUSE FEATURES OVERVIEW-
*2800 square feet on half acre lot boarder by main street and the Virgin River
*Masterbedroom (ground floor) features king size bed and attached full bathroom
*Upstairs bedroom 1- features queen bed and attached bathroom
*Upstairs Bedroom 2- features 2 double sized beds
*Upstairs bathroom 3- features 1 double bed
*Bathroom #3 in Hallway of upstairs
*Full Kitchen
*Washer/Drier
*Central AC & Heat
*Free High Speed Wi-Fi
*TV with DVD only
*5 miles to Zion Park Enterance
The painting below resides in the BYU Museum Archives. There is a discrepancy as to wheather C.C.A Christensen painted it (Wikipedia) or J.A.Christnesen (BYU Archives)- Either way it is a beautiful depiction of the house.


The above image shows the state the house was in when Roy & Tibby decided to restore it around 1970.

This image was pulled from state record showing the house in the earlier part of the 1900's
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