Historic Stepping Stones Provides Emotional Ties for Visitors

On a quiet residential street in Bedford Hills, there’s a house that holds a deep connection for countless people.

From the outside, the Dutch Colonial Revival may appear nondescript, but it’s what went on inside that makes it an indispensable treasure.

The property at 62 Oak Rd. is called Stepping Stones, and was the longtime home of Bill and Lois Wilson, the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon Family Groups, respectively.

Nearly destitute and having lived at more than 50 different addresses after Lois’s Brooklyn family brownstone was foreclosed, the couple moved into Stepping Stones in April 1941 through the good grace of friends. The couple eventually paid off the $6,500 mortgage.

The house and Bill’s small, free-standing studio they later built is where they completed much of the work that established AA and Al-Anon. He wrote three of his four books in the studio, including “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,” principles that have since been adapted by dozens of other groups addressing various addictions. The property was designated a national historic landmark in 2015.

While many recovering alcoholics and their families are among the many visitors who make the pilgrimage to Stepping Stones, there are intriguing stories related to the Wilsons’ journey and the eight-acre property that would resonate with almost anyone, said Sally Corbett, the executive director of the Stepping Stones Foundation.

“While a lot of the people who visit are in some kind of recovery, this is a great American story of hope,” Corbett said. “Here’s a woman, who’s stuck with a guy with a lot of potential – he was a remarkable guy, she was a remarkable woman – and ultimately he not only recovers but ends up going on and giving this tremendous gift to the world.”

Corbett said Stepping Stones has more pieces than many museums – 15,000 objects and another 100,000 items in its archives, including a treasure trove of letters, which the foundation hopes to digitize.

From the desk that Bill wrote his books, with burns near the edges where he rested his cigarettes, to the white enamel-topped wood kitchen table where his friend and former drinking buddy Ebby had a heart-to-heart talk that inspired Bill to believe in a power greater than himself, much of the home’s interior is as Lois Wilson left it when she died in 1988 at 97 years old. Bill predeceased her in 1971.

Tours of the grounds are given regularly by volunteers such as Levi Pearson, relating little-known stories of the couple and the significance of each one of the rooms in the house. There is the upstairs gallery where the floor is teeming with photos, letters and possessions, plus mementos received from the grateful legions that they helped around the globe.

“I do know that everything in this room is here for some reason of Lois’s,” Pearson said.

Many visitors who come to Stepping Stones often become emotional, especially those who are part of recovery groups.

“So when we get visitors here sometimes they’re teary-eyed or gleeful,” Corbett said. “We see the range of these wonderful emotions and some of them feel the work that Bill and Lois did in founding AA and Al-Anon, the family group for family and friends of alcoholics, saved their lives and saved their families.”

Bill Wilson grew up in East Dorset, Vt., and met his future wife, who was four years older than him, when Lois’s family would spend time at their nearby summer home, Pearson said. They married in 1918.

He was a World War I veteran and his drinking can be traced to his Army days, Corbett said. It didn’t take long for him to become a problem drinker.

While Bill had some success working on Wall Street, his drinking sabotaged him as did the Great Depression. During a difficult business trip to Akron in 1935, and after having abstained from alcohol for a few months, Bill desperately wanted a drink, but instead reached out to local churches where he hoped to speak to other alcoholics, hoping that would help, Corbett said.

He was put in touch with Dr. Robert Smith, who had his own struggles with alcohol.

“Lo and behold, these tall, low-key, intelligent men who had never met before, Bob felt Bill really understood him, and it was not only the founding of AA but the beginning of a friendship of a lifetime,” Corbett said.

Still, there were years of struggle to follow, including their nomadic journey, until coming to Stepping Stones in 1941. By then Bill had anonymously written the first of his four books, simply titled “Alcoholics Anonymous.” By 2015, more than 35 million copies had sold in English alone and millions more in other languages, Corbett said. A copy of the book is in the desk drawer in Bill’s studio.

The site also features a welcome center and a small exhibit featuring a chronological history of the Wilsons. The property’s garage was converted into the center.

Stepping Stones recently raised more than $50,000 to rehab Bill’s studio, Corbett said. The site holds meaning for so many people that donations were received from 35 states, Canada and Ireland.

Pearson said the couple was unable to have children; Lois miscarried three times. Somewhat mysteriously there is a cradle on the floor of the gallery. Its presence is open to conjecture, but Pearson said many feel that the Wilsons had millions of children.

“I think a lot of people feel that they wouldn’t have been able to leave the legacy if they had children, and we wouldn’t have this wonderful place for people to tour and see,” Corbett said.

Stepping Stones is open for tours for individuals and groups every Monday through Saturday at 1 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day and other selected days throughout the year. The tours last 60 to 90 minutes. Reservations are required. There is a suggested donation of $10 per person.

The 66^th annual Stepping Stones Lois’ Family Groups Picnic will be held on Saturday, June 3. It features speakers and socializing, typically for those in recovery and their families.

For more information about Stepping Stones, visit www.steppingstones.org. To schedule a tour, call 914-232-4822 or e-mail info@steppingstones.org.