Beginning with Belief
Pasos began as a belief.
Pasos grew from our personal experience, recovery, family perspective, and a shared belief that the step after treatment deserves more care, compassion, and understanding, for individuals and the people who love them.
Between us, we have over 30 years of long-term recovery.
We know what it feels like to come out of treatment and step back into ordinary life. We know the gap between being in a protected bubble and suddenly not.
For many people, that can feel uncertain.
It stayed with us, and we wanted to create a place that could hold it with more care and compassion.
That belief became Pasos.
Big Move, Big Purpose
Before Pasos, we were living in southern Spain. Margaret was teaching yoga, and Andy had been working in real estate. Life there was beautiful, but the idea of creating a sober guest house kept returning.
So we made a big decision.
It meant starting over, making a major life change, and taking a real risk. But we knew in our hearts this was needed.
In January 2026, we left Spain, sold our home, moved to Aberdeen, and began the journey of building Pasos. It was a big step, especially at a stage in life when many people might be thinking about slowing down.
For us, though, this was about building something meaningful, something new, with purpose.
Pasos was built with intention, commitment, and personal investment.
Why Aberdeen
Aberdeen felt personal from the start.
Margaret has family ties here, and over time the city came to feel meaningful. When we found the house in Ferryhill, near Duthie Park, we saw potential. We saw something that could genuinely become a home, with warmth and character.
There was something about the setting, the greenery, the pace, and the feel of the area that stayed with us. It felt right for what Pasos was meant to be.
We wanted Pasos to be somewhere that could genuinely support people.
Family Ties
Aberdeen has personal meaning to us.
Nature nearby
The setting and green space felt right for the kind of place we wanted to create.
Real Life
A city setting where guests can begin reconnecting with ordinary life in a supported way.
What Family Taught Us
We are parents, and that has shaped the way we think about Pasos too.
Recovery is never experienced by one person alone. We know that personally.
When someone is struggling, the impact reaches children, parents, friends, and the wider relationships around them. Families often carry a great deal, often quietly. That understanding has shaped the way we think about Pasos from the beginning.
When we reflect on early recovery, what helped most was not advice or structure. It was someone sitting beside us and helping us feel that we were worth being cared for, that we could be loved back to health.
Those experiences are in the walls of Pasos.
We hope people feel that Pasos is approachable, nurturing, and friendly.
Meet Toby
And yes, Toby is part of the story too.
Toby is part of the warmth, personality, and everyday life that makes Pasos feel like a real home. On a page about who we are, it only makes sense that Toby is here as well.
Sometimes the smallest details say a lot about a place.
Toby is one of them.
Healing Happens in Homes
When creating Pasos, we wanted something more elegant, more homely, and more genuinely supportive. A place where someone could arrive, exhale, and begin to feel like themselves again.
Because people deserve more. Healing happens in homes.
Pasos is our home, and guests are welcomed into it as such.
Our goal was to create a sober environment with good food, warmth, privacy, and supportive day-to-day presence.
We also wanted to share a little of how we live and the daily habits that have kept us well, and offer that as something guests can experience for themselves.
That spirit sits at the heart of Pasos.
Hope at the Heart
Pasos was created with hope.
The hope that someone can leave one chapter behind and step into the next. The hope that recovery can feel fuller, and more connected to a life worth living.
What matters most to us is simple:
That people feel welcomed.
That they feel safe.
That they feel respected.
We want Pasos to be a place people choose because they are ready, because they are willing, and because they want something better for themselves.
We believe everyone who comes here has so much to live for. Our part, the part that gives us the most joy, is being a small step toward that life.
That belief sits at the heart of Pasos, and it always will.
Spanish Steps
Pasos means steps in Spanish.
That name reflects what we wanted this place to represent: a meaningful next step into a different life.
Or, as we like to say, stepping into a new life.
It is a simple name, but for us, it says a lot.
