About
A 1920s school, a family house, and now a cider house for New Kent.
Providence Forge School
This building opened as a school in the 1920s and taught the community through the 1930s. When families could travel farther, the county sold it. Judge Orange made it a residence. His son-in-law, Judge John Grady “Johnny” Sowder, later raised his family here until 2010.
Jackie and Mark Smith bought the schoolhouse in 2021. Jackie walked in and, in her words, immediately fell in love with it. They spent the next years turning it into a cidery, restaurant, and gathering place, and opened Old School Cider House on September 13, 2025.
Something different for New Kent
Virginia has a long cider history, and the Smiths wanted a tap list that felt like the state. The house pours cider, beer, and wine from Virginia makers, with flights that name who made it and where it came from.
House ciders inspired by New Kent history are on the way. Until then, the board is a tour of the Commonwealth — Blue Toad, Potter’s Craft, Sage Bird, Buskey, Coyote Hole, and whoever else is drinking well that week.
Magnolia Hall
Magnolia Hall is the event venue behind the schoolhouse. The cider house is the everyday room. The hall is for the nights that need more space: ticketed dinners, holiday parties, masquerades, trivia, music bingo, and karaoke.
A catering kitchen is part of the hall, so the food for those gatherings is prepared on the property.
Call to ask about a date, or see what is already on the calendar.
