Meet The Owners
Welcome to Heavenlynest!
We are so glad you're here! Our names are Annaliza & Rafael. We are the founders and owners of Heavenlynest in Niles, California, and the parents of our sweet bulldog, Lovely.
Our story dates back to 2009 when we first met and became fiancés in 2011. Our wedding was a gorgeous 1920's art deco theme. As you may already know, we love details, and our wedding was nothing short of magical with all the curated pieces we sourced for it. After an entire year of acquiring a horde of distinctive, vintage finds, we decided to share the magic with others.
In late 2019, we took a buying trip to Morocco and France (another one of my wildly insane ideas proposed to Rafael!) It was there that we discovered local artisans offering handcrafted goods. We were in TEXTILE heaven! We started every day from sun up to sun down, walking the souks, chatting with shopkeepers, and listening to their life stories. Our buying trip was a success! We returned home and quickly got to work, adding all of our new finds to the Seventh Heaven inventory. However, 2020 had other plans for our rental business. In just a week of settling in, our landlord informed us that they were going to be selling our warehouse. We were presented with a unique challenge as we just sourced all these beautiful pieces from Europe and would have nowhere to house them and our existing rentals. (can you imagine... two-thousand+ pieces with nowhere to put them?!?!) We immediately began looking for a building to rent with no success. Nothing seemed to catch my eye. I began to feel discouraged but never gave up hope. Finally, I decided to search one more time and discovered a Craigslist ad in the city of Fremont, a quaint little downtown area known as Historic Niles. I had never noticed this listing before nor have we ever been to Niles. But, something in me knew this space was ours! The hundred-year-old building was a total fixer-upper with big roll-up doors. I began to instantly envision all the possibilities and potential at first glance!
By the end of April 2020, we had the keys to the building, and Rafael immediately got to work in fixing it up. He power-washed, cleaned, and painted the building to serve as the new showroom for all of our beautiful rental pieces. However, once the makeover was finished, I was inspired to open a retail store. I shared the vision with my husband, and he was completely supportive, as he always is. I also shared my vision with a few friends, and some said I was "crazy." Others said I was "brave" because we were in the middle of a global pandemic - everything considered nonessential was closed, and starting a retail business seemed a bit insane. But that did not discourage us from making it happen.
We believe our trip to Europe and the connections made were in divine order for what was soon to unfold in our lives, the beginning of Heavenlynest.
We have poured our hearts into making Heavenlynest a magical place for everyone who visits with beautifully curated pieces from all over the world to bring into your home. So come by; stay awhile and browse our collection of unique artisanal textiles, delicious candles, lush plants, gorgeous dresses, and so much more!
with love,
Annaliza & Rafael
