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Sheltered homes called logements-foyer, created in 1957, were renamed résidences autonomie in 2015 by the French law relating to the adjustment of society to population ageing. Refocusing the aim of these institutions around preventing loss of autonomy has built an image of housing that brings together only self-sufficient elderly people. This study, which is the result of a one-year immersion in a sheltered home and is structured around interviews with members of the institution’s team, shows a more nuanced reality. Résidences autonomie are home to a mixed group of residents, some of whom are not self-sufficient within the meaning of the regulatory framework or who blur the boundaries of autonomy, especially residents with mental disorders. Social representations built around the ideal of elderly people as independent and active members of the community – a view shared in part by professionals involved in the operation and monitoring of the sheltered housing – are therefore at odds with the variety of situations encountered and the needs that all these situations create. The resulting tension among teams and the lack of suitable solutions both bring into question the ability of sheltered homes to tailor to their residents and, more generally, how elderly people are categorised as part of policies relating to ageing.