Alice Minnich, owner of Larger Cross, fills her Oldwick shop with sophisticated yet practical items, including crocks, candles, textiles, topiaries by Atlock Farm, and an oil painting by local artist William Totten. Photo by Erik Rank
“The inspiration behind my products is rooted in nature and the changing seasons,” says Alice Minnich, owner of Larger Cross, a lifestyle shop inspired by seasonal country living. The Hunterdon County business offers timeless products for home and garden, as well as one-of-a-kind antiques.
Originally from Bridgewater, Minnich moved to New York City after college. Her first years in the city were spent at Cartier, where she developed an eye for design. Then came culinary school and freelance food styling. Most recently, she spent 11 years in interior design, working with world-renowned decorator Alex Papachristidis.
Larger Cross carries the kind of items you might find in the casually elegant farmhouses of Hunterdon County. Photo by Erik Rank
“While living and working in Manhattan, I had the idea for a country shop. And I wanted a garden and a dog,” she says. So, in 2014, she moved back to her home state to begin a new chapter in bucolic Oldwick, a charming hamlet where locals know each other by name.
Items include linens and woven baskets. Photo by Erik Rank
“I kept ideas and images in a little notebook I carried with me all the time. Then I set up a studio in my garage, with Tewksbury neighbors meeting there. I had no formal training in retailing, so it was learn as you go,” she says.
The shop’s moniker, Larger Cross, is a nod to the nearby Larger Cross Road, which Minnich describes as “a beautiful country road with amazing homes” that inspired her to carry household essentials one might find inside these casually elegant farmhouses.
Today, business is brisk in a larger retail space, but Minnich remains a one-woman show, sometimes joined by Grantham, her black Lab. “I fill the shop with organic cotton, linen, wood, porcelain, glassware, furniture, and plants in terra cotta pots. Furnishing a home only with new items can feel soulless, without warmth and patina, while using all antiques can seem dated. I prefer to mix it up with old and new,” says Minnich.
Inventory hails from the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland and France. “It’s especially gratifying when I discover small makers who offer well-made items that are hard to find,” she says.
39 Old Turnpike Road, Oldwick; Thursday–Saturday, noon–5 pm.