Stepping Stones (house)

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
Stepping Stones (house) is located in New York
Stepping Stones (house)
Stepping Stones (house) is located in the United States
Stepping Stones (house)
Map
Interactive map showing the location of Stepping Stones
LocationKatonah, NY
Nearest cityPeekskill
Coordinates41°14′48″N 73°42′3″W / 41.24667°N 73.70083°W / 41.24667; -73.70083
Area8 acres (3.2 ha)
Built1920
Architectural styleColonial Revival
NRHP reference No.04000705
NYSRHP No.11901.000307
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 16, 2004[1]
Designated NHLOctober 16, 2012
Designated NYSRHPApril 9, 2004

Stepping Stones is the historic home of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson (Bill W.) and his wife, co-founder of Al-Anon/Alateen Lois Wilson (Lois W.), in Bedford Hills, New York. The historic site features their house (a Dutch Colonial Revival structure from 1920); Bill W.'s writing studio, nicknamed "Wit's End"; approximately 15,000 objects (furniture, memorabilia, etc.) left by the Wilsons; a water pump house; the original one-car garage; a two-car garage and Welcome Center with an orientation display highlighting some of the 100,000 items in the Stepping Stones Archives; a flower garden; a community vegetable garden; and more. Lois left the property to The Stepping Stones Foundation - the nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that she founded in 1979. Since Mrs. Wilson's death in 1988 the Stepping Stones Foundation has maintained and preserved the site with the help of friends, and has offered on-site tours by reservation and off-site educational programs.

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.[2]

The New York Times quoted a former executive director of the site:

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]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b 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.