What Silver Living Is
Silver Living is a free, open concept: a shared home where independent adults 55 and older each have their own room and pay one all-inclusive amount to live there — no dividing up bills or managing a household budget yourselves. Anyone can open a Silver Living home; it isn't owned by any single company, and it never will be. It's a category, the same way "sober living" describes a type of home rather than one company's product, and it's separate from Fortson House, the certifying framework behind it.
What makes a Silver Living home work isn't the address — it's the community. Residents share more than a roof: they're in the same stage of life, often drawn together by shared interests, and that common ground is what turns a house into a real household. Residents run their own daily life and have a genuine say in who joins the household next, built around people who actually want to be there.
It's also less expensive than living alone in your own home, and less expensive than an Independent Living community — because you're living independently, not living alone.
What Fortson House Does
Fortson House is the certifying and chartering organization behind Silver Living. We don't own a single property, and we never provide care of any kind. What we do is set the standard a home has to meet, certify the homes that meet it, and audit them on an ongoing basis to keep them accountable.
That's what makes certification worth something. Anyone can call a house "Silver Living." A Fortson House charter means a real, outside organization checked the home against a written standard — and keeps checking.
Certification tells residents, families, and investors exactly what a certified home means before they ever walk in the door.
How Certification Works
Every certified home splits its decisions into two clear domains. The Operator runs the business of the home — the finances, maintenance, vendor relationships, and who gets considered for an open room. The Residents run their own daily life — house norms, shared meals, quiet hours, and the rhythm of the household.
Neither side reaches into the other's decisions. Residents are independent, capable adults; what they need is a real voice in their day-to-day life, not the burden of running a house like a business. That split, and the outside audit that keeps it honest, is the core of what a Fortson House charter certifies.
Founded by Someone Who Lives It
Fortson House was founded by Ralph Pombo, who built the Silver Living model as someone in the very demographic it serves — and who operates a Silver Living home himself. This isn't a concept designed from the outside. It's a standard built by someone living inside the model he's asking other homes to meet.
For Future Residents
If the idea of a shared, independent household sounds better than either living alone or giving up your independence, tell us where you'd like to live and we'll keep you posted as certified Silver Living homes open near you.
For Future Operators & Investors
Anyone with a home and a real commitment to community can open a Silver Living house. Fortson House certifies homes that meet the standard and keeps them accountable to it — without ever taking an ownership stake in your property. If you're considering opening a home, or looking to support the people who do, we'd like to hear from you.