Home: Shop: Lambertville


Lambertville hardly looks big enough to fill three hours of solid browsing, but this small town is densely packed. The riverside hamlet has an art-town reputation. Most shop owners double as collectors and/or designers, which makes for well-curated and often-changing inventories of furniture, home accessories and art of all styles, eras and price points. To help fine-tune your day trip, here’s a run-down of the must-stop shops.


Lambertville hardly looks big enough to fill three hours of solid browsing, but this small town is densely packed. The riverside hamlet has an art-town reputation. Most shop owners double as collectors and/or designers, which makes for well-curated and often-changing inventories of furniture, home accessories and art of all styles, eras and price points. To help fine-tune your day trip, here’s a run-down of the must-stop shops.

Interior designer Scott Reinboth restyles his polished, modern space every few weeks. The decor is sometimes dictated by an accent color and sometimes by a particular item, but the overall mood is always mod. A recent visit found Reinboth Home & Garden done up in black, white and a shade of pink somewhere between Pepto and hot. The pink theme extends to the shop’s seasonal hostess gifts — straw cloches threaded with pink; pink and chocolate-brown Jack and Lulu stationery — arranged among sleek lamps, chunky tables, sumptuous art books and a comfy modern sofa. A slideshow of Reinboth’s interior design portfolio plays on a constant loop on three screens embedded in the back wall.

Reinboth Home & Garden, 45 Bridge St., 609-397-8313, reinbothandcompany.com

In the warren of rooms on the first floor of a historic house, five dealers have opened a coop called Palette. The back room is a treasure trove of mint designer vintage clothing and accessories — Schiaparelli hats, Gucci handbags, and racks of vintage designer dresses. In the rest of the space, merch rotates weekly. You might find large ceramic planters; painted mirrors; a delicate, painted commode; four iron chairs with mod graphic cushions; abstract paintings; sets of vintage juice glasses; a red-and-white clock shaped like a die; and, if you’re extra lucky, blue-and-white transferware from the estate of Gloria Swanson.

Palette, 63 Bridge St., 609-397-0101

America Antiques & Design is best known for the giant clock dials, left, it’s carried for 15 years. You may have even seen one in a movie: Owner David Teague often le nds them to prop departments. He travels the world for antiques to fill his 5,000-square-foot showroom, a former dance hall and garage built in 1911. Finds from a trip to Asia—a carved wooden door frame from Mongolia, a colorful Japanese tapestry—hold court with architectural fragments from Italy, a set of Russell Woodard wire-mesh chairs and a massive table Teague made from the base of an old lathe and a sheet of steel. The collector is also a designer—in his upstairs studio, he makes furniture and accessories with an industrial feel, often from reclaimed objects. America Antiques & Design, 5 South Main St., 609-397-6966, americadesigns.com

At Elva Brusca’s Lambertville Gallery of Fine Art you’ll find beachscapes, snow-covered city streets, riders mid-foxhunt, farm scenes and still lifes — all beautifully rendered. Brusca trades exclusively in traditional, representational oils, mostly by local artists. Some were once local and then moved away, like Carolyn Droge, a New England painter whose photo-realistic cow portraits, top right, the gallery can’t keep in stock.

Lambertville Gallery of Fine Art, 20 North Union St., 609-397-4121

Designers Linda Carbutt and Rafael Novoa are the team behind Alba Interiors and their retail outlet on Church Street is a mix of custom-upholstered furniture, such as a button-tufted Tootsie bench, large glass vessels filled with long branches painted white, and light fixtures made from curtains of silver beads that hang low enough to brush the top of your head. It’s difficult to define a design firm that touts such juxtaposition and style-mixing, but we’re loving it.

Alba Interiors, 10 Church St., 609-397-5205, albainteriors.com

Area’s wide-plank pine floors and muted walls set off unique pieces such as a coffee table by Oly Studio made from dark shell with mother-of-pearl inlay, and a lamp by Jamie Young Company with a giraffe-print silk shade. Thanks to owner Lori Johnson’s eye for the simple and luxurious, you can stylishly furnish your entire home—or just your linen closet—with bedding from Bella Notte Linens, above, and 100 percent Egyptian-cotton towels from Abyss & Habidecor. Or pick up the perfect hostess gift: exquisite matte white porcelain peony blossoms or hand-blown glass vases and trays with coral, shell and flower designs painted in the style of antique prints.

Area, 51 Bridge St., 609-397-6660, areaandco.com

Reinboth and other local designers send their clients to Hrefna Jonsdottir, the Icelandic gallerist whose shop on Bridge Street has become a fixture after 29 years. Jonsdottir started as a poster vendor, evolved to prints and photographs, and now deals in original art—contemporary oils and acrylics as well as some encaustics and mixed-media. (She’s still unloading prints and photographs, via the $10 bin just inside the door.) About half of the work is by local artists. Shop favorites are Mare McClellan’s layered, meditative abstracts and paintings by Jane Gilday, who often decorates her frames with gold leaf, engravings and poems. With the exception of Gilday’s, all work is framed by Jonsdottir, who has even outlined her own computer screen in tech-friendly antiqued silver.

Hrefna Jonsdottir, 24 Bridge St., 609-397-3274, hrefnagallery.com

 

Lunch Break
Assess the damage and fuel up for a few more rounds at these in-town lunch spots.

Inn at Lambertville Station, 11 Bridge St., 609-397-8300, lambertvillestation.com: Casual dining in a restored train station. Sit on the porch, sip a mango mojito and people-watch.

Lilly’s on the Canal, 2 Canal St., 609-397-6242: Gourmet sandwiches (try the Cubano, with roast pork, ham and Swiss), salads and pastas in a dining room with an open kitchen and two-story interior waterfall.

Full Moon Caf, 23 Bridge St., 609-397-1096, cafefullmoon.com: Art deco dinerlike atmosphere with good greasy omelets and famous eggs or veggies Benedict.

Caffé Galleria, 18 South Main St., 609-397-2400, caffegalleria.com: Tasty, casual menu featuring locally grown greens and grains, with dishes such as grilled chicken and broccoli rabe panini.

Sneddon’s Luncheonette, 47 Bridge St., 609-397-3053: Old-fashioned luncheonette where everything—soups, wraps, cheesesteaks and more—is homemade.

Giuseppe’s Ristorante, 40 Bridge St., 609-397-1500: Grab a quick slice if shopping can’t wait, or dine in and sample more of the Sicilian-influenced menu, especially their seafood dishes.