Is this the way to deal with loneliness as you get older?

That should be home not homes!!

I don't have 3 friends, let alone ones I could live with ! I am far too set in my ways to share with anyone again.
My mother lived in an Abbeyfield house a few years ago. It was an ideal set-up for anybody sociable and cheap too, but she stayed in her room all the time. Meals were cooked by the staff, but Mum always took hers back to her room to eat. I noticed the last time I was in Witney that the house no longer belonged to the organisation.

I have some lovely friends but as much as I enjoy spending time with them I wouldn't want to live with them I value my own company too much plus when family came visiting theirs or mine I would feel uncomfortable about it.

My wife and I and a man friend have shared a house since 1991.
We had been close friends for a long time, and knew we should "get on well".
Sadly, my wife died suddenly and unexpectedly in January 2012, and having an existing housemate has been a real boon.
Kev and I are totally different characters in many respects - he is practical, "handy" and a joiner, whereas I am not, being more "creative" in terms of writing, Art and UK travel. Kev prefers to go to Turkey where he and a former work colleague have invested in a Timeshare in a yacht to sail the Med and the Aegean - they are entitled to two six week stints in any twelvemonth period.
Consequently, the loneliness and feeling "out of it" experienced by many people who have lost their partner is not a problem for us.
I'm sad not to have any grandchildren which I hear is delightful, but my superb daughter-in-law lets me "share" many of her younger nieces and their families.
My stepson is also a star - we have known each other since he was seven, and he and I getting on famously is the main reason my late wife married me, I'm sure.
Without I hope ever "poking my nose in", I take a keen interest in the filming, recording and PR international business they run from the HQ on Lord Street in Southport. They are in America at the moment seeing daughter-in-law's elder brother who lives with his English wife near Washington DC. They are fascinating people too.
If there are friends of yours who you think would put in lots in a communal living arrangement, do investigate. My enjoyment has not come about through "pot luck", believe me.

Brilliant idea

Hells bells NO NO NO. I can live with other half and have done for 42 years , mainly because he is very easy going. There is nobody else I could live with either friends or family. Perish the thought

Nor me my idea of hell .Im not social especislly less and less as illness has taken hold. And a lot of my family and friends have taken up rediance in tge cementary.

You can still be lonely even when you are with friends, I had two friends one was my neighbour. They got on very well together and had a lot in commen they both came from Bermondsey i was a Greenwich girl, they would often talk about things when I was with them that I knew nothing about if I asked or mentioned something they would raise their eyes or look at one another and grin. They say two's company threes a crowd and I just felt left out and lonely at times, in the end I decided that I didn't feel I could be with them anymore.

As I have no family and only one really good friend. She lives on her own also. I would like to have a largish house and us live together. We go away on holiday for weeks at a time with little problems as I am quite easy going. When I come back from our holidays I always feel down as I miss the company of someone to chat to. We also help one another out with crosswords etc. We are both very independent and she has a busy social life and I don't. We would need our own lounges though. She loves my dog has even bought him treats and his own bed for when we visit. I think the dog has more chance than I do.

Your arrangement sounds ideal Christo46.It has also helped you through losing your wife by the sound of it. Hope it continues to suit you both.

I think I could do this if it ever came to it.

My husband is in better health than me so its anyones guess!

Ginny, i am with you. I would have been easier to train a dog but he is lovely so i decided to keep him.