The house, on Blossom Hill Road near the Belgatos neighborhood, was made available through a partnership between Project Match—an organization that provides affordable housing throughout the county—the town of Los Gatos and other local agencies.

"The town of Los Gatos is certainly proud of the affordable-housing stock that we have, and this is just another piece of that," said Regina Falkner, director of community services.

All five seniors who will be chosen to live in the house will have an annual income of less than $15,000 and will pay about one-third of their income in rent, which includes utilities, phone and cable services.

The program allows independent seniors to live together and share in household chores. Project Match provides a caseworker for the residents who helps the seniors fill out paperwork, mediate house meetings and perform other tasks. Organizers have cited companionship as a benefit for people living together.

"If I want to go to a movie, I usually can get somebody to go with me," said 68-year-old Carolyn Leech, who lives in another Project Match house on Pollard Road. "I do enjoy very much the women I live with. It has added a real richness to my life."

Project Match has eight homes throughout the county, including ones in Campbell, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Saratoga and San Jose. After securing funding from local agencies, the organization finds a single-family home that it adds onto or renovates to make it habitable for seniors.

In this case, Project Match worked with the town of Los Gatos, county of Santa Clara, Housing Trust of Santa Clara and the Valley Foundation to secure $800,000 for the house.

Those involved with the project looked at 30 to 40 homes before settling on the house on Blossom Hill Road, which contains five bedrooms and three bathrooms, said Chris Ray, incoming president of the Project Match board of directors. One of the attractions of the house was that it came with five bedrooms. Typically, Project Match purchases homes with three bedrooms and must build the additional rooms.

"We were looking for a home with five existing bedrooms, because once you add on, it makes the process more complicated," Ray said.

New carpets were laid, a fireplace was removed and a new deck was added. Additionally, doorways were widened to accommodate wheelchairs and furniture in the common rooms was donated. The house was designed based on input from residents of other Project Match homes.

The house on Blossom Hill Road is about half a block away from a bus line that runs to Highway 85. There is a shopping center nearby, with restaurants and a Walgreens.

The organization, which has a waiting list of seniors who wish to move into a house, hopes to identify the five seniors for the latest home and have them moved in by the end of January, said Bob Campbell, executive director of Project Match.