Inside Appalachian Escapes: Themed rentals, escape rooms, and a love letter to West Virginia

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — What began as a search for an affordable retirement option has turned into one of southern West Virginia’s most imaginative tourism ventures.

Nate Adams and his wife, Rachel Adkins, are the founders of Appalachian Escapes, a growing collection of themed vacation rentals near the New River Gorge that combine art, storytelling, and Appalachian culture.

“We didn’t set out to move to West Virginia—or to create a bunch of immersive vacation rentals,” Adams said. “But that’s exactly what happened.”

Adkins’ family roots in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky made the region familiar, but it was a broader search around 2015 that first put the state on the couple’s radar.

“We explored where the least expensive place to retire in the western world would be,” Adams said. “It turned out to be West Virginia. The low cost of housing really helps, plus it’s a bartering culture.”

The couple spent years vacationing throughout the Mountain State, weighing options from Morgantown to the New River Gorge. “We fell in love with Pocahontas County, too,” Adams said, “but it’s just too tough to fly from there.”

Escape to West Virginia

The turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when cabin fever pushed the couple into a cross-country camping experiment.

“Like everyone, we got stir crazy and took a trial tent-camping trip to Yellowstone—to see if we’d kill each other,” Adams said, laughing. “We came back intact.”

The experiment expanded into a months-long road trip in 2020, funded in part by renting out their Ohio home on Airbnb. “That trip taught us that the house did alright as a short-term rental,” Adams said.

“So when we sadly lost Rachel’s grandma, and the cabin she kept in West Virginia, we thought, maybe we could find one of our own.”

They then set their sights on a single idea: find a home within 15 minutes of the New River Gorge Bridge. In January 2021, Adkins spotted a prospect on Facebook Marketplace.

“We called, set up a time, and drove down on a snowy January day,” Adams said. “The owner walked us around, and, in a move that surprised me, we made an offer right there. I wrote it on a page of my Moleskine notebook, signed it, and handed it to him.”

On the drive home, doubt set in. “We questioned ourselves and freaked out a bit,” he admitted. “But we could buy a house and four acres in cash that was 15 minutes from the bridge and 10 minutes from downtown Fayetteville. It was exactly what we were looking for.”

Two days later, the deal closed while the couple was traveling again in their camper, and by May 2021, they were renovating the property and preparing it for short-term rental use. What surprised them most was the community’s reception.

“We expected to be looked at with some mistrust as outsiders,” Adams said. “Instead, we were embraced. The friendliness of our neighbors and everyone we met was overwhelming.”

On one return trip from Ohio, the realization became clear. “We crossed the Ohio River in Parkersburg and looked at each other and said, ‘I think we just moved,’” Adams said. “We changed our driver’s licenses shortly after.”

The origins of Appalachian Escapes

The creative heart of Appalachian Escapes emerged in Oak Hill, where the couple purchased two long-neglected houses on the same property. “The basement of one had water flowing out the door,” Adams said. “I joked it looked like A River Runs Through It, but without Brad Pitt.”

The houses required so much work that long-term rentals no longer made sense financially. “That’s when my wife’s ever-flowing spring of creativity came into play,” Adams said. “We didn’t want another basic rental that looked like Joanna Gaines had just left. It’s nice, but it’s played out.”

Instead, they leaned fully into themed design. The first unit was built around board games and early video games. “The light switches look like Nintendo controllers,” Adams said. “The kitchen counter has a game on it. The driveway is a giant Monopoly board where humans are the pieces.”

They added a simple escape room with a hidden prize chest, and the gamble paid off. “Hosting groups told us it was a bad idea,” Adams said. “Thankfully, they were wrong. It took off.”

From there, the themes escalated: a candy-themed house that later became a wizard-themed “mini Hogwarts,” a Mothman house, an 1980s-inspired house completed in 2025, and now a steampunk-themed property featuring what Adams believes may be the only vacation-rental time machine in the country.

“All of them have escape rooms,” Adams said. “Game and Wizard have simple ones. The other three are whole-house escape rooms, and there are only a few dozen like that in the entire country.”

The couple also experimented with themed “glamping,” including a renovated camper. “That camper paid itself off in one year,” Adams said. “That’s 100 percent ROI, which blew our minds.”

Beyond profitability, Adams says the project has allowed them to rescue properties that might otherwise be lost. “We’re taking houses that were nearing teardown and giving them new life,” he said.

Four years in, Adams says West Virginia has exceeded every expectation. “We’ve been to over 20 countries, and this is our favorite culture,” he said. “I saw a Tudor’s Biscuit World sign that said ‘Be nice and work hard,’ and that fits perfectly.”

Life, he said, simply feels different. “Things function like a village here,” Adams said. “Kids are outside more. You know your neighbors. And it’s all gorgeous—the only state entirely in the Appalachian Mountains.”

Looking ahead, Appalachian Escapes continues to grow, with new themed projects already planned. “We’ve found something magical,” Adams said. “Art that’s fun, profitable, and pays for the next round of art.”

For those considering a similar leap, his advice is simple. “If remote work is an option and you like a slower-paced place,” Adams said, “I can’t recommend West Virginia enough. We still can’t believe we moved, but the people, the culture, and the natural beauty sucked us in.”

More information about Appalachian Escapes is available at AppalachianEscapes.net.