What is sober living?

Residents live together under clear house expectations, keep working their program, and rebuild daily life with accountability around them. The law calls this a recovery residence. Severn Home has houses in Maryland and Virginia, and both states define the term.

Maryland defines a recovery residence as “a service that: (1) Provides alcohol-free and illicit-drug-free housing to individuals with substance-related disorders or addictive disorders or co-occurring mental disorders and substance-related disorders or addictive disorders; and (2) Does not include clinical treatment services.” That is Health-General § 7.5-101.

Virginia’s definition is almost the same: “a housing facility that provides alcohol-free and illicit-drug-free housing to individuals with substance use disorders and individuals with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders that does not include clinical treatment services.” That is Code of Virginia § 37.2-431.1. Both definitions end on the same point: the housing does not include treatment.

Federal law says it in fewer words. Recovery housing is “a shared living environment free from alcohol and illicit drug use and centered on peer support and connection to services that promote sustained recovery from substance use disorders.” That is 42 U.S.C. § 290ee-5.

SAMHSA, the federal agency for substance use and mental health, describes it from the resident’s side in its 2023 guidance on recovery housing: “Recovery housing is a recovery support service that was designed by persons in recovery specifically for those initiating and sustaining recovery from substance use issues.” And: “Founded on social model recovery principles, the recovery housing setting is the service.” In plain words, the house itself is the help: its rules, the other residents, and the meetings you go to.

The National Alliance for Recovery Residences, which publishes the national standard for recovery residences, says every one is free of alcohol and illicit substances, and that houses differ in how much staffing, governance and recovery support they provide. So ask each house what its rules are.

At Severn Home, sober living means:

Severn Home is housing, not treatment. We encourage every resident to keep working with outside providers, whether that is a private therapist, an outside intensive outpatient program or another evidence-based option, and to stay connected to a recovery fellowship.

The difference is practical. Treatment is what a provider gives you. A sober living house is where you live while you get it, or after it ends: a room, house rules, other residents and your own meetings. Severn Home is:

If you or a loved one need treatment, start with findtreatment.gov or the SAMHSA hotline at 1-800-662-4357.

Adults leaving residential addiction treatment who want structure around their first year: four recovery meetings a week to start, a sponsor, a mentor who checks in daily for the first month, and a curfew that extends as you earn it.

SAMHSA’s guidance names people recently released from residential inpatient treatment among those a recovery residence can be particularly helpful for.

Every Severn Home house is for men or for women, never both. Ellicott City is the one house for women. Arnold, Crownsville, Gambrills, Pasadena, Silver Spring and Alexandria are for men, and a house for men in Fairfax, Virginia, is opening October 2026.

The first weeks after treatment can be the hardest. Working on your recovery while moving into a house with people you do not know yet is stressful. Severn Home pairs every new resident with a mentor for the first month, chosen for the characteristics you share and for who we think you will get along with best. Your mentor checks in daily, introduces you to the other residents, answers questions, walks you through the house stages, talks through hardships, and takes you to an outside meeting at least once a week during that first month.

In your first 30 days you sign in and out when you leave the house, there is a curfew, and there are no overnight passes yet. You go to four recovery meetings a week and to every house activity, and you work toward a sponsor in the recovery fellowship you prefer. Every house has a full kitchen for your own meal preparation, and Pasadena and Silver Spring have two.

Each stage after the first lifts a rule you can check. From day 30 you may take an overnight pass every other week, and if you do not already have a job, looking for one comes next. From day 90, once you have shown you take an active part in your recovery, you may take a pass one day a week, your curfew is later, and you stop signing in and out. From day 150 there is no curfew and no scheduled wake-up time; you must have a full-time job unless you are a student, meeting requirements are lifted, and house activities are encouraged but no longer required. After 365 days the rules and requirements are, for the most part, lifted.

The exact curfew and wake-up times, and the rules on visitors, cars and phones, are house details to ask about when you call. Ask about testing too: every house is substance-free, and the testing policy, and what follows a return to use, are not published here.

Where it is offered, a room shared by two is $1,200 a month, and a room of your own $1,500 to $1,800. Some houses also have rooms shared by three; ask which when you call.

Rents start at $1,200 at Crownsville, Ellicott City, Gambrills and Pasadena; at $1,300 at Alexandria and Fairfax; and at $1,500 at Arnold and Silver Spring. Not every rate is offered at every home.

One rent covers your room and every amenity in the house. At all seven open houses that means Wi-Fi, televisions, a full kitchen, a full gym and a hot tub that is open all year. Arnold, Crownsville, Ellicott City, Gambrills and Pasadena also have an outdoor pool, open through spring and summer.

We recommend a minimum stay of one year. The first year runs in five stages, and residents who reach a year have shown they can stay sober and can be trusted in the house. From there, remain in the house as long as you can, keep working your steps, and keep the lifestyle that supports sobriety.

After your first 30 days, finding work is part of the program, and by stage four you are expected to be working full time or studying.

Ask every house on your list the same ten questions, and write down what each one tells you: men or women; the cost of the room you would move into, and what the rent includes; who checks on you in the first month; what is asked of you in the first 30 days; when the rules lift, and how long you should stay; testing, and what follows a return to use; whether it is treatment, and whether you can keep your outpatient care; how far it is from your meetings and your work; and whether you can see it before you choose.

Our guide answers all ten for Severn Home, and says so where an answer is not published. We publish drive times from 17 Maryland towns for four houses: Arnold, Crownsville, Ellicott City and Gambrills. For Pasadena, Silver Spring and Alexandria, ask us. Every house has its own page with photographs, and most have a film.

Severn Home has seven houses, one for women and six for men: Arnold, Crownsville, Ellicott City, Gambrills, Pasadena and Silver Spring in Maryland, and Alexandria in Virginia. Fairfax, Virginia, is opening October 2026.

The questions we have answered, and the ones we have not, are on the questions page.