Published: May 11, 2026 16:29 Updated: May 11, 2026 16:55
Too big, too bulky… Normandy wardrobes are no longer in fashion, and more and more people want to get rid of them. Nathalie Romatet has decided to save them and exhibit them in her castle.
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“My idea for France is to adopt Normandy wardrobes to prevent them from being burned or thrown away, and to preserve Normandy craftsmanship”. A rescue mission. Today, Nathalie Romatet is going to the Paris region for a somewhat special adoption. “There, I’m going to Houille and I’m going to get a Normandy wardrobe. I go where the Normandy wardrobes call me”, she says.
For five months, she has been traveling the roads of France. The goal: to collect Normandy wardrobes whose owners no longer want them, like Marie-Rose Fleury. Her wardrobe has been dormant for 40 years, a classic. “It stays in the garage and then we don’t really know what to do. We don’t want to part with it. They are part of life, of the family”, says Nathalie Romatet.
The featured piece is a model from Bayeux (Calvados). “There are certain flower motifs, you can see some intricate work, leaves too… You can feel it’s old work”, observes Nathalie. Old, and quite so. The wardrobe has been in the family for 170 years. Over five generations, it has been passed down from mother to daughter. About ten planks to load, and it’s time to say goodbye.
A new life awaits Marie-Rose’s wardrobe. Heading to Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), approximately 200 km away, to the Miromesnil castle. This is the 21st wardrobe saved by Nathalie Romatet, after a removal man told her that he was depositing such furniture at the dumpster daily, a heartbreaker. The chatelaine decided to place a small ad. This led to a flood of messages. “It was incredible, the number of people who first reacted on social networks, then sent us emails. And even now, today, I receive between three and five phone calls a day”, she reports.
It’s time to reassemble Marie-Rose’s wardrobe. “What’s great about this type of furniture is that it’s not like some furniture now where there are 46,000 screws, and it takes four hours to assemble, whereas this, in 10 minutes, it’s assembled”, says Jean-Charles Le Floch-Jouis, the castle guide. The wood has clearly played a trick, but optimism remains. Bayeux, Cherbourg (Manche), Vire (Calvados)… Each town has its model. The finesse of the carvings, the richness of the patterns indicate the social status of families, as the wardrobe was the bride’s dowry. “It’s a skill, a gift, a talent,” describes Nathalie.
Castle visitors, who came to visit the birthplace of Maupassant, also discover the initiative. Nathalie Romatet has no intention of selling her wardrobes. She will proudly display them in the future castle boutique.
