France has undergone major urban transformations over the last fifty years, involving a process of peri-urbanization accompanied by an unprecedented growth in home ownership. Using data from the “Biographies et entourage” survey, it is possible to explore how the cohorts born between 1930 and 1950 have been affected by these urban changes, from their childhood up to the present day, and how their residential and geographical trajectories are influenced by marital behaviors. The security associated with home ownership is likely to be durable, provided that the couples remain intact over time. It is compromised, however, if the partners separate. Across all cohorts, separation and divorce lead to an often brutal bifurcation in residential trajectories that halts upward residential mobility, the status of homeowner being viewed as a sign of social success.