In 2026, Home & Design inaugurated its prestigious Icon Awards, which recognize visionary leaders who have made remarkable achievements in their fields. These annual awards honor an architect, an interior designer and a landscape professional for their accomplishments and impact on the local design community.

The magazine is proud to announce the 2026 Architect Icon Award-winner is Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP; Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors.

Since launching her namesake firm more than 30 years ago, Cathy Purple Cherry has designed and reimagined hundreds of luxurious residences across the U.S. Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors’ award-winning projects run the gamut from weekend escapes to multigenerational estates in styles ranging from traditional to contemporary.

Driven by a passion for art and architectural design, Purple Cherry has been honing her craft since childhood. Painting lessons at a young age later led to studies at the Corcoran School of Art, University of Colorado, Boulder, and University of Maryland. In 2024, she published her first book, The Design of a Country Estate. It focuses on a compound she and her team masterminded, which boasts a manor house and nine purposeful outbuildings, from an entertainment barn to a pottery studio.

A wife and mother of three, including an adopted child with special needs, Purple Cherry is passionately involved in many philanthropic efforts. She and her firm offer their design expertise and sensitivity to the non-profit and special-needs communities via the Purple Cherry Purposeful Architecture Studio.