Our Story
Adventure without limits
At Ravenchase, we love the idea of adventure. We love thinking without limits, talking in riddles, solving mysteries and finding treasure chests. Ravenchase does not sell Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia and we don't have kiosks in malls.
At Ravenchase, we intend to fuel your greatest aspirations for adventure. We'll keep you inspired when your daily routine bogs you down.
New beginnings
Believe it or not, Ravenchase actually began under quite tragic circumstances. The mother of my three little brothers, Jimmy, Cliff and Stephen, was in the ICU with an advanced case of cancer. The chemo had gone on for weeks and Christmas was approaching. The entire family was sad and I wanted to give them something to take their minds off of the future—even for just a day.
As I was shopping around for gifts, I came across a metal detector and a compass and it dawned on me that it would be good to actually set up an event outside that would lead the boys through the town and the local countryside. For the next week I scouted out locations and developed clues that would lead the boys from point to point across our farm, through the town of Warrenton, VA and then ultimately into the Shenandoah mountains where I buried an actual treasure chest within a cave near the top Old Rag mountain.
The boys struggled with the clues, which contained ciphers and anagrams, but eventually they solved everything on their own and found the final clue which led them up Old Rag. When they found the treasure chest and dug it out of the ground, my littlest brother gave me a look that I will never forget. He was happy and inspired. He and his brothers felt as if they had done something extraordinary... and it showed. That night as we visited at the hospital, the boys played with their treasure chest and talked about their adventure. Since that time, I've continued to build on the inspiration that started it all.