THE WILSON HOUSE

Village Street
East Dorset, Vermont 05253
802-362-5524

In 1846 this lot was vacant. Five years later the Barrows House opened as a hotel. When Bill Wilson was born here in 1895, his Grandmother Wilson owned the hotel, which had been in her family since it was built by her father. When she married Bill's grandfather, the hotel became The Wilson House.

Bill Wilson lived in the House until he was about two years old and then the family moved to another house and later moved to Rutland. When Bill was 11 years old his parents were divorced. His father went to work in the quarries in Canada and his mother went to a Boston medical school. At that time, Bill and his sister, Dorothy, came back to East Dorset to live with their maternal grandparents, the Griffiths, who lived in the yellow house across the church yard. It's here that Bill grew up, weathering the trauma of his parents' divorce when he was 11 and the death of his first love when he was a senior at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester. The Griffith House became a part of the Wilson non-profit foundation in June of 1991. Three rooms of the Griffith House are open to the public. You may enter by the front door. There is a sitting room downstairs and upstairs there are two bedrooms. Bill's bedroom is the one facing the Wilson House.

In the late 1880s, East Dorset was a lively town of 1,800 people, compared with the present population of approximately 350. The main livelihood of the day was the marble quarries and lumbering. This was during the time Washington, DC was being built; much of the marble in that city came from the quarries in the East Dorset area. The New York Public Library was also built with East Dorset marble. Route 7 ran right past the front of the hotel. Factories, a school, and small shops lined the street. East Dorset was a popular stopping point on the railroad, lying approximately halfway between Montreal and New York City. The Wilson House was truly a grand hotel!

The Wilson House remained open as a hotel until the mid 1970s and then, due to illness in the owner's family and the depressed economy, it was closed and remained vacant for 13 years before restoration began. Water leaked through every ceiling, the foundation and some walls were in danger of collapsing, and dirt was pushing up the floorboards in the kitchen. Twenty-eight steel columns had to be placed under the House to stabilize it. The back part of the House had to be raised and a partial cellar was dug under it.

Your tour begins in the present living room.

The front part of the living room, where the guest register is, was the Hotel bar. In 1895, Bill Wilson was born in the "room behind the bar, " which is now the back section of the living room. A lamp is lighted day and night in Bill's memory.

Twenty-four people can be seated in the dining room. The Wilson House provides three meals a day for guests. While dress at the House is very informal, meals are served by candlelight and cloth napkins are used at each meal. On Friday nights, The Wilson House serves supper from 5:30-7:00 PM. This meal is open to anyone. Many people come to supper and then stay and attend the East Dorset Group's 7:30 PM Step Meeting.

This was the library/living room of the hotel. An old guest register in the display case shows that Bill Wilson, his wife Lois and his mother stayed here in 1925 when Bill and Lois were on their famous motorcyle trip. There are several photos of East Dorset at the turn of the century and other articles of interest displayed in the library.

The kitchen has been restored with the original wooden cabinets and old tongue-and-groove flooring. Before restoration, dirt was pushing up the floorboards in this room and boards had to be taken up by hand. It is the only room in the House with narrow floorboards. The large table is as old as the House and was stripped and tiled to become a wonderful working and serving table.

This room was originally used by hotel staff as a room for visiting with family members. Now it functions as a second meeting room. The original molding has been replaced around the doors and windows. The only windowsill that could be saved is the one facing east. This is the only room in the House with dark wood molding. Video/discussion Step Meetings are held in this room. Meeting schedules may be found near the guest register in the living room.

The Meeting House is where several AA and Al-Anon meetings are held each week. At one point the barn and House were separate and around 1920 the barn was enlarged and attached to the House. The fireplace was added in the 1940s when a structural beam crack ed.

The Wilson House operates as a hotel; there are 14 rooms available which can house a maximum of 28 guests. This includes a small back apartment with a loft bedroom which this used to be a chicken coop. For the privacy of our guests, we ask you to tour the downstairs only. If you would like to see the upstairs rooms, please see one of the Wilson House staff who would be glad to show them to you.

The Wilson House and the Griffith House are supported solely by the donations left by people who pass through or stay overnight. The staff are all volunteers. If you are interested in learning about becoming a staff member, please inquire at the office. The Wilson House of East Dorset is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization and your donations are welcomed, appreciated and very much needed.