On the corner of Rheinstraße and Mittelstraße stands the baroque house that housed the Neuwied customs office until the 1960s. Built in 1696, the house is distinguished from the lighter half-timbered houses of the townspeople by its high, curved ornamental gables and its many double windows, but also by its thick castle-like walls, heavy beams, vaults and spiral staircase on the inside. It was probably built by the count's government after the burning of the town in 1694 to replace an older house that had been burnt to the ground and was used as a salt store, as evidenced by the salt-eaten bricks and the wooden beams still containing salt inside. As lord of the land, the count had the salt monopoly. The salt cargo imported by ship was cleared through customs, stored and sold at a fixed price with a tax surcharge in the house located close to the Rhine. In 1827, the Prussian state turned the former count's salt customs and warehouse into a general main customs office, which has been the customs office for the southern part of the Neuwied district since 1925; traffic congestion in the old town and a shift in the volume of dutiable goods from ships to road and rail meant that the customs office had to be relocated in 1969. Today it is home to the catering trade.