Stepping Stones (house)

For other uses, see Stepping Stone (disambiguation).
Stepping Stones

A brown house with low sloping black roof and dormer windows. There is a light snow covering on the brick and stone fountain and front lawn.

North elevation, 2008
Location Katonah, NY
Nearest city Peekskill
Coordinates 41°14′48″N 73°42′3″W / 41.24667°N 73.70083°W / 41.24667; -73.70083Coordinates: 41°14′48″N 73°42′3″W / 41.24667°N 73.70083°W / 41.24667; -73.70083
Area 8 acres (3.2 ha)
Built 1941
Architectural style Colonial Revival
NRHP Reference # 04000705
Significant dates
Added to NRHP July 16, 2004[1]
Designated NHL October 16, 2012

Stepping Stones is the historic home of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson (Bill W.) and his wife Lois Wilson (Lois W.), co-founder of Al-Anon/Alateen, in Bedford Hills, New York. It is a Colonial Revival structure built in 1920.

The house at 62 Oak Road, Katonah, New York is on the state and National Register of Historic Places listings in Westchester County, New York. It is open for tours by appointment since 1988 after the death of Mrs. Wilson.[2] An estimated 90 percent of visitors to the house are members of a 12 Step group.

The New York Times quoted the executive director:

We always say it’s not a successful tour unless at least one person cries.[2]

In 2012 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.[3]

History

The Wilsons bought the house on 1.7 acres in 1941 more than five years after Bill W. took his last drink. Lois Wilson later co-founded Al-Anon there.

The desk on which Bill wrote Alcoholics Anonymous ("The Big Book", the principal text of AA) resides at "Wit's End," the office retreat he built on the property. Bill, after moving to Stepping Stones, wrote three more books at the desk: The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, As Bill Sees It, and AA Comes of Age.

The famous kitchen table Bill mentions in several accounts of his meeting with Ebby Thacher at Bill's former home in 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn is also on display. Amongst the memorabilia are letter from Carl Jung to Bill Wilson, and a photograph of President Richard Nixon, receiving the millionth copy of the Big Book.[2]

Bill died in 1971 and Lois died in 1988. They left no children and the house was turned over to the Stepping Stones Foundation which maintains it and conducts the tours. In 2007, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, added Stepping Stones to its new Women’s Heritage Trail, in recognition to Lois. Every June, as per a tradition started by the Wilsons in 1952, hundreds of A.A. members arrive for the annual AA family groups picnic.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Alcoholics Anonymous Founder’s House Is a Self-Help Landmark New York Times, July 6, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Interior Designates 27 New National Landmarks" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Interior. October 17, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
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