Shadow Walls has a deep and vibrant history. In 2023, founder and artist Anna Cone purchased the Purling, NY grounds once known as Eva’s Farm Resort, with the plan to restore it into a thriving community art space and retreat.
Eva’s Farm Resort began in 1935 when proprietor Eva St. Eve bought the 1886 Italianate and barn on Silver Spur Rd. Soon after, she purchased the adjoining farmhouse property, previously a hunting lodge, on Mountain Ave from Eva Story. Between the 30’s and the 80’s St. Eve and her family added on seven cabins and a martini-shaped swimming pool. In its hey-day the resort hosted 150 guests on 26 acres.
The resort was dear to many families who spent memorable summers there as well as many locals who still share memories of working and growing up there. Guests recall the Eva’s farm song, rec hall traditions, and menu with great nostalgia. On birthdays, St. Eve would bake the guests a cake and put fresh flowers from the garden on it.
An employee also recalls how St. Eve was an epic hostess, but also tough as nails. When the server complained that, in high summer, when the coal oven kitchen was too hot to wait in, St. Eve quipped, “shut up, it’s good for your complexion!” St. Eve prepared three meals a day in the dining hall and rang a ship bell when it was time to eat. The resort boasted all local produce before farm to table was a thing. Her daughters, Evelyn and Violet, helped her run the resort in the later decades and their families and children grew up helping out.
St. Eve sold the resort in the 80’s and with plane travel and shifting economies the new owners folded soon after. The house has been sitting ever since, waiting for a new life.