Talk Shop: Cathy Purple Cherry // Purple Cherry Architects
Photo by Durston Saylor
ABOUT CATHY
Cathy Purple Cherry is the principal and founder of Purple Cherry Architects, an architecture and interiors firm headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. Established over 30 years ago, Purple Cherry Architects is known for view-oriented properties and expertise across a range of architectural vernaculars and interior design styles with a strong emphasis on functionality, emotional connections, and the relationship with the surrounding environment. Cathy and her firm embrace advanced technologies and new materials in their custom designs. Warm and thoughtful, she gathers and processes information that informs the big picture as well as all the subtleties. She considers lifestyle as much as aesthetics. A visionary and three-dimensional thinker, she is able to turn aspirations into built reality. Three decades later and with a small empire of four offices throughout NYC and the South East, Cathy is a creative force that we enjoyed hearing more from—and hope you do, too!
Photo by Durston Saylor
Describe your style in three words or less:
Classical, bohemian, and rustic.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
My exposure to the fine arts world. A combination of visiting galleries, painting, and different types of artists. Raised appreciation for all artistic expressions. I love fashion, and I love traveling. Had I not traveled as a young college student, I would not have had the appreciation. carvings and craftsmanship in century-old structures. Catacombs, pantheon, history and opportunity. Culture of Europe.
My mother. A performing artist and a fine artist. She exposed me to incredible children's books filled with beautiful watercolor imagery.
How did you start your company, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
I started my firm in 1995 out of a 1,000-square-foot home. I fundamentally knew I would someday start my own firm. While I had been approached by principals of other firms to come on board with a partnership, I felt strongly about running my own team.
Favorite: working directly with clients on creating the initial designs and most specifically the floorplans that support their unique habits.
Do you have a mentor in your career, and if so, how have they helped to shape your trajectory:
Travis Price, one of my college studio professors, saw my talent, my three-dimensional mind, and my true potential.
What does your home say about you:
My Annapolis home speaks to my appreciation for historical architecture, traditionalism, and respect for historic restoration. My Charlottesville home, which is nearing completion, speaks to my drive/determination to connect architecture spaces to incredible views as well as my whimsical design flair.
Photo by David Burroughs
Where do you find inspiration:
Instagram, the internet, and Houzz, but not solely for architecture, but also for the way environmental elements and cultural or historic touchpoints could influence a design we are working on.
Who are your style icons:
My mother introduced me to the great classic icons of Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelley, Fred Astaire, and Carey Grant, among many others and I still find their style to be timeless.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Fresh flowers, foliage, great food, close friends, and furry animals! Firepit, comfortable chairs, and blankets!
Do you collect anything:
Yes, animals! I do collect all different kinds of crosses. Unique pieces from local artisans from my travels – pottery, paintings, etc.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
Anouska Hempel. She infuses old with new, excels at bringing the outside in, and creates settings that feel very ethereal. I love the compositions that she puts together.
I admire the work of Bunny Williams – it is classical, comfortable, layered, and very successfully blends different aesthetics.
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
I always follow the Feng Shui concept of not splitting your eye when looking down long views, primarily as it pertains to connections from the inside to the outside. That said, architecture is not about a set of rules that define good design. Architecture is about creativity. The truth is all rules can be broken, it’s then about how you manage the elements to limit chaos and conflict.
Photo by David Burroughs
What are you working on right now:
Fortunately, we are incredibly busy. We have a number of stunning, highly detailed homes and multi-structure estates being built at the moment. I am so looking forward to having them photographed and to sharing them with our followers and with the press. We also continue to grow our team as well as our geographic reach. We are currently working on projects across the country – in addition to work throughout the Mid-Atlantic, we currently have projects in Massachusetts, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Nebraska, to name a few. In
addition, we will open a new office in Manhattan later this year and will publish a book in Summer 2024 about a waterfront multi-structure compound for which we were responsible for both architecture and interior design. We are so fortunate to have each of these opportunities!
Wardrobe staples:
Black leggings, black sandals, oversized colorful shirts.
Favorite fabric/wallpaper:
Boucle
Best interior advice you ever received:
Select your materials, most significantly upholstery pieces, and fabrics, to align with your client in the most appropriate way. Don’t use viscous and silk in a house that is raising three children with three pets.
Best career advice you ever received:
Always be yourself.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
The work of unique, small-scale craftspeople. They may not be of significant value, but they represent the work of artisans. Each one has a story.
Photo by Durston Saylor
Your greatest extravagance:
I’ve never been extravagant. My greatest extravagance is supporting my children in their ventures.
Favorite places to shop for home:
High Point Market
Most prized possession and why:
My cross collection. They were each given to me by various friends and family and have different meanings.
Your interiors motto:
Be bold.
Your life motto:
Just do it.
Advice for someone looking to define their own interior style:
Do the work that is instinctive to you and be unafraid. Don’t do your work to impress others. Do your work because it brings you joy. If it brings you joy, it will bring others joy. Trust your instincts.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: Pancakes with bacon
Drink: Sweetened iced tea
Film: Doctor Zhivago
Hotel: My bucket list includes staying in an over-the-water bungalow in a beautiful destination, soon!
City: Barcelona, Spain
Bedding: 800 thread count cotton and a pillowtop mattress
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): Coffee, light and sweet
Playlist: Contemporary Christian
Weekend Activity: When I’m not working, I spend time with family and pets, and binging Netflix.
Design Book: Houses of McKim, Mead & White