When Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors was contracted by a client with a vision of a large estate on the Chesapeake Bay waterfront, the company’s leadership had no idea that theirs would be a relationship spanning decades. The project, referred to by the Annapolis-based company as “Eastern Shore Grandeur,” took a decade to be fully realized, but it had been the client’s dream for even longer.
“He dreamed of this house for 30 years, and he collected artwork for it for 20 years,” recalls Cathy Purple Cherry, the firm’s founding principal, of her client. “He drew pencil sketches on graph paper while on a plane. Our relationship is about him trusting me to deliver what we need to deliver him, and to guide him when he needs to be guided.”
The end result spans a whopping 44,000 square feet and serves as both a family home and a corporate retreat.
The story of this project, as chronicled in Purple Cherry’s book “The Design of a Country Estate,” is also the story of Purple Cherry Architecture’s growth as a design firm. The firm was born in Purple Cherry’s 1,000-square-foot house and is now a team of over 40 architects and designers working across the East Coast.
“Your successes in life either come from an incredibly long journey of very hard work, or from being in the right place at the right time,” Purple Cherry says. “[This project] was a game changer. It really helped us get off the ground and reinforced the ability for our team to grow.”
Happy hunting
One of the estate’s most unique features is its “hunt room,” which is meant to serve as a mudroom — a thoroughfare between the outdoors and the rest of the house. In stark contrast to the house’s many luxurious furnishings, the hunt room is meant to feel more rustic and natural.
“We wanted to create a feeling like you were just coming in from working on the garden,” Purple Cherry explains. “It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with that kind of work, but it’s meant to evoke the feeling of it.”
To that end, many of the hunt room’s furnishings are antique or were purchased secondhand, with wear and tear that adds character to the space.
“It was all about making it feel casual and comfortable,” Purple Cherry adds.
A room with a view
The main manor is already very large, but a unique element has been added to many of its rooms to give them more of an open feeling: internal windows.
These allow natural light from outside to penetrate further into the house and makes the waterfront views visible even to rooms that are deeper into the building.
“I love to use interior windows for view and light,” Purple Cherry says. “The guest room has windows that align with the outer ones that look out on the water. When you sit there, you can see through the windows to the water. That’s very intentional.”
