A Vintage Store Owner Brings "Every Era All Together" in a Midcentury Long Beach Home

House hunting, like vintage shopping, is oftentimes as frustratingly simple as being in the right place at the right time.

For Michelle and Karim Qazi, that meant spotting their Long Beach, California, house online in 2021 on the first day it was listed.

"My heart was beating so fast and I was like, ‘This is it.’ I knew right away," says Michelle.

Their midcentury home was originally built in 1957 by architect William Lockett as his own personal residence: It’s a 2,110-square-foot property that’s open and light-filled, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a pool out back. Karim and Michelle’s 12-year-old son, Hamilton, and 9-year-old son, Davis, also reside in the home alongside their pandemic puppy, Chewy.

"The whole indoor/outdoor living was something we knew we had to have," says Michelle.

"I definitely love the aesthetic, the fact that it's not cookie-cutter, and that there's character," says Karim. "And would the house look like this without Michelle? Probably not."

Michelle has a discriminating eye for second acts: her brick-and-mortar vintage furniture store, 6th and Detroit, caters to the art of the find. She got her start perusing estate sales with her then-infant son, Hamilton, in tow in a Babybjorn. She eventually was collecting so much, "our home was becoming almost hoarder status," she says. "I was like, ‘how about I sell some of this and share the treasures?’"