Friends, family and longtime customers packed into a Pasadena basement over the weekend to celebrate a birthday that would be remarkable anywhere else — but at Club Sunset Knoll, it's practically tradition. Irv Koch, the man who has owned and run the hidden waterfront bar for more than six decades, turned 103.
The gathering unfolded exactly where it always does: inside the basement of Koch's private residence along the water in Pasadena, Maryland, where he has operated the bar since 1963, according to WBFF, which first reported on the birthday celebration. There's no sign out front announcing the place. First-time visitors have to knock on the door of the house or get walked in by a regular who already knows the way, a speakeasy-style setup described by the Baltimore Sun. Over the decades, patrons have left their mark literally, tacking signed dollar bills and personal souvenirs to the walls and ceiling.
A Navy Seabee Who Never Really Stopped Working
Before he was pouring drinks in his own basement, Koch grew up in South Baltimore and worked as a carpenter at Bethlehem Steel. He served in the Pacific theater as a U.S. Navy Seabee during World War II, background reported by WMAR2 News that helps explain the discipline Koch says has carried him this far — he has credited his Navy service and an active routine for his longevity and work ethic. That same drive has kept him behind the counter well past the century mark, working the bar at 101, 102, and now 103.
This is not Koch's first milestone birthday party at the bar. He celebrated turning 100 at Club Sunset Knoll in August 2023, and the occasion has since become an annual draw for community members and regional news crews alike. Saturday's party, marking his 103rd, was covered by WBFF reporter Ellie Buckheit, who described a house full of friends, family and customers gathered for a man locals simply call a legend.
The License That Can't Outlive Its Owner
What makes Club Sunset Knoll more than just a quirky neighborhood haunt is the regulatory tightrope it walks. The bar operates under a special residential club liquor license issued by the Anne Arundel County Board of License Commissioners, per the Capital Gazette, which allows alcohol to be served and consumed on-site by members and invited guests under a commercial zoning overlay layered onto the residential property.
That license is grandfathered in. It cannot be sold, transferred, or handed down — it simply expires the moment Koch stops operating the bar, according to the Baltimore Sun's reporting on the property's regulatory history. Modern Anne Arundel County codes no longer permit new bar licenses inside residential basements, which is precisely why Club Sunset Knoll has earned its reputation as Maryland's last legal basement bar. The distinction gives Koch's continued presence behind the bar an added weight: every birthday he celebrates there is also, in effect, another year the place stays alive.
A Peninsula Built on Failed Silkworms and Steady Homeownership
The bar sits in Pasadena, an unincorporated stretch of Anne Arundel County on a peninsula framed by the Patapsco River to the north and the Magothy River to the south, home to an estimated 34,309 residents as of 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data. The area's name dates back to 1890, when California investors bought 100 acres on the peninsula hoping to farm mulberry trees for silkworms and named the spot after Pasadena, California, according to Patch. The silk venture failed, but the name stuck for the whole peninsula.
Census figures also show a community with deep roots: Pasadena's median household income sits at $129,727, and homeownership runs at 83.7 percent, a level of residential stability that mirrors the multi-generational regulars who keep returning to Koch's basement year after year.
Commercial Bars Struggle While a Basement Endures
That stability stands in contrast to what's happened lately to Pasadena's above-ground hospitality scene. In April, five-year-old craft beer hangout Hysteria Taphouse announced it was closing for good, citing escalating overhead and operational costs, as Hoodline reported at the time. A month later, Titan Hospitality shuttered its Pasadena restaurant location due to low customer volume, directing displaced patrons to its Annapolis venue instead.
Rising commercial rents across Anne Arundel County have squeezed conventional taprooms and corporate hospitality groups alike in recent months. Against that backdrop, a basement bar with no signage, a non-transferable license, and a 103-year-old owner keeps quietly outlasting them all — for now.
