Monday, July 20, 2026
By Leland Schwartz
Before the dust settles, Kevin Ash will have built two hotels, three upscale public restaurants, three cafes, and a members only club in Leesburg, Warrenton and Middleburg.
Here in Middleburg it will be an Italian Restaurant, “LaCaccia”, (“The Hunt”) next to the Post Office, also the meaning of his restaurant in Leesburg, The Hunton.
In Warrenton, it’s going to be a French brasserie, which Wikipedia describes as “a type of relaxed, bustling French restaurant that historically served as a brewery, famous for their lively, upscale-yet-casual atmosphere and menus featuring comforting French staples like steak frites, French onion soup, and fresh seafood.”
“Think of Le Diplomat in DC,” Kevin suggests. “Not unapproachable, not highbrow, just good French meals.”
In each town, and with reciprocity with each other, the Chase Club joins members in the Club’s space where you can work, eat and use conference rooms, as well as take part in 70 year-round social events that range from fly fishing trips in the region to catered winery picnics.
La Caccia’s sommelier will conduct monthly “Wines Around the World” tastings for 25 club members from regions of the world that Kevin says “many people might not be familiar with.”
The Chase Club in Middleburg is working on some level of reciprocity with Salamander. “We are developing a very positive relationship about how the Salamander and the Chase Club could work together in the future,” Kevin said.
Kevin is part architect, builder, stone mason, land planner and an expert in building restoration. But when you ask him what he does for a living, he says “I manage risk. What I do in these historic communities is very complex,” Kevin explains. “In trying to manage the complexity of these projects, I am managing risk.” He’s also an avid outdoorsman and says “I love to fly fish all over the world.”
Rendering Of “La Caccia” And Its Italian Cafe By Woodworks Architects
If you walk by the old Fun Shop, where plans to open a steak house by another developer stalled out and fell through, you can hear Ash’s Clay Construction Co. inside building out the restaurant downstairs and the Club upstairs, along with what Kevin calls “two proper bars.”
“The execution of the work is not as seamless as it could be,” he says, making a reference to the Town’s red tape and the fact that the town manager’s position has been vacant. “I wish their development was as simple as the buildings that are there,” Kevin says, describing the one thing that slows him down. “Time kills deals,” he says every time I see him. Warrenton, on the other hand, Kevin says, “is super-proactive to get downtown development going.”
The Fun Shop was 15,000 square feet. The Middleburg Safeway is 12,500. “I had to clean all of that out and start from a blank slate,” Kevin said. The three single-family houses on the property are getting renovated and updated, a request from Middleburg Mayor Bridge Littleton.
The historic house will be an Italian cafe and will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What Kevin calls a “speakeasy” is tucked away behind the cafe. (They were called “speakeasy” bars because patrons were instructed to literally “speak easy” (whisper or talk quietly) about these secret establishments in public, Wikipedia says. “This practice kept the illegal operations hidden from both neighbors and law enforcement.” This one, however, has its ABC license.