What Martha Stewart's Home Really Looks Like
The impressive 156-acre estate in Katonah, New York, is where Martha Stewart calls home. Stewart purchased this beautiful farm back in 2000 for $15.2 million. The property was previously occupied by millionaire Ruth Sharpe, who owned the farm until her death in 1999, per Velvet Ropes. This multi-home estate is sprawling with lush gardens, greenhouses, and stables for horses. Stewart has catered to the reclusive property for more than 20 years, and each year she adds more and more to beautify and maintain the 1925 farmhouse estate and its grounds (via The Martha Stewart Blog).
While she is no stranger to home decor and design, Stewart has been indulging her passion by spending most of her time at home, also known as Cantitoe Corners (via Wide Open Country). She recently invited "MTV Cribs" to tour the estate, and here is an in-depth look at one of the seven houses on the property, as well as a close-up look at Stewart's classic decor style you know and love.
1. The farmhouse estate is a sprawling compound
The entire estate is roughly the size of 116 football fields, including the end zones. The property boasts seven houses spread out across the land. The estate also includes multiple gardens, greenhouses, stables, grazing fields, tenant quarters, and various storage facilities and carports, as per The Martha Stewart Blog. Some of these areas are for various animals Stewart cares for, including her five horses. Stewart uses the other homes on the property for guests to stay in, tenants, and entertaining per House Beautiful.
Stewart primarily occupies the main house pictured above. This residence is also known as the "Winter House," which she repainted when she moved into the home. She named the color "Bedford Gray," due to the gray tones the cold mornings cast on the property during the wintertime. The apple trees shown above show off their leaves and juicy apples in the seasons to come. The property comes alive at all times of the year and continuously grows as a farm. Each season brings new life to the land.
2. The 'Winter House' is home
At the end of the driveway, you will find yourself staring at this beautiful farm home with four dormer windows spread across its roof. This is the main house on the property and what Stewart and her staff call the "Winter Home." Inside and out, many modern touches have been added to the home over the years. Martha shared with MTV how the porch was newly enclosed at the residence, which is lucky for her 14 blue canaries who call it home.
"Winter House" boasts an impressive chef-style kitchen, porch room, multiple bedrooms, and gym, among the dining room and gathering areas. The front enclosed porch is a new addition by Stewart, but not the most impressive. Martha Moments shared that the entire front entry of the home was swapped. During a renovation, Stewart had the home turned to face the other way. The front of the house is now facing toward the apple trees planted in one of the large fields. She also added a massive 4,000 square-foot addition to the home, including a large kitchen. Various carports and garages have also been added to the property over the years. Talk about an impressive celebrity renovation!
3. Stewart's entryway is painted a romantic gray
The Bedford Gray paint color is up close and personal in this picture of Stewart in the "Winter House" entryway at Cantitoe Corners. The soft, subtle gray accentuates the single glass front door and double vertical sidelites. The recently enclosed front porch is painted to match the existing house and brings added flare with six sliding doors as large windows. As per her blog, the new porch addition is also home to the Red Factor canaries and budgies Stewart looks after.
The exterior view of the home is serene as your eye wanders up the steps, passing the rows of green on either side to the door ahead, finally scaling the house to the dormer windows above. Some of her favorite shrubs can be seen here in this modernly neutral entryway, such as the boxwood and golden barberry bushes. The gorgeous green bushes line the walkway leading to the house's front door. The entrance is classic and simple, with the large green plants adding the perfect pop of color to the otherwise monochromatic home.
4. The front porch faces an apple orchard
Standing at the top of the steps just outside the front door of this farmhouse, a picturesque scene sprawls out in front of your eyes. Lush green fields with apple trees Stewart had purchased in 2010 stand just beyond the fence, as per The Martha Stewart Blog. She had these bountiful trees planted in the front yard of the main house. The trees are not just for beauty, though, even if often admired from the front steps or porch windows. She often uses the produce from the trees in her own kitchen, sharing how crisp and juicy the apples are.
According to Velvet Ropes, Stewart had the century-old cedar paddock fencing delivered to the farm to create the fenced fields pictured above. These created multiple grazing fields for the horses and other animals on the farm. These large paddocks can be seen from the very front steps of the "Winter House." They add an old-world feel to the farmland in a present state of time.
5. The porch room is a greenhouse and an office
The enclosed porch room pictured above is the first look inside the main residence, and you should feel lucky enough to find a seat amongst the plants. House Beautiful shares these are no ordinary plants as most of the earthy greens in this space were grown on the property. The porch room also occupies Stewart's 14 budgies, whom she adores. The area serves as an office space, and offers additional seating ideal for contemplating or writing. For extra texture, the cushions on the black wicker porch settees are made of upholstered horsehair, as per Martha Stewart.
This newly renovated part of "that Winter House" was completed in 2019. This area was rarely used and undervalued prior to the renovation as it was fully open and exposed to the elements. The porch is now enclosed by six pairs of sliding glass doors that allow tons of natural light to pour in. She also moved the home's front door forward to complete the space. Stewart created the ideal spot for her greenery to thrive.
6. Her dining room is set for 12
Find a seat anywhere amongst the 12 wicker chairs lining the elegantly long dining room table. The legendary hostess has the table eloquently set for a dinner party, one of many had on the estate. Plants in shimmery gold pots line it end to end. The large windows open the room allowing the natural light to flood in and brighten the space. Additional plants adorn the corners and offer a bit of color and contrast against the neutral color palette.
Many of the classic Martha Stewart trends are on display in this space. The wicker chairs are similar to the black wicker settees in the porch room. Additional wicker furniture accents a seating area adjacent to the dining table as well. According to Better Homes and Gardens, wicker and rattan are great ways to add natural texture to a room. If you let your eyes wander low enough, you will see a bold black and white hide rug that adds movement to the space. All together the dining area is an ideal spot for entertaining casually or formally.
7. Stewart has an impressive chef-style kitchen
The copper pots hang abundantly above your head as you stand in this epic kitchen. According to Martha Stewart, this is a throwback to her first home kitchen in Turkey Hill, which featured the same hanging pots and pans. The celebrity chef undoubtedly has the ideal space to create the perfect culinary work of art. This beautifully crafted home kitchen has seen many recipes from Stewart over the years. In the home tour, she shared details about the impressive cappuccino maker and how photographs of her recipes have been taken in this very spot. The storage is open and airy, offering easy access to the items you need most when cooking a classic favorite or inventing a new dish.
As per Martha Moments, the kitchen is part of an earlier addition to the home. The large kitchen is connected to the main house by a servery and a graciously large dining room. Retrofitted and created for today's culinary standards, this glorious kitchen is sure to produce some delicious dishes.
8. She transformed the attic into a home gym
Stewart transformed one of the "Winter House" rooms into a classic home gym. There are several workout equipment options to choose from. Stewart gave an inside peek of the space on her blog, revealing that the room offers equipment such as treadmills, stair masters, weight lifting machines, and a massage table. The neutral paint color is just the tone needed to calm the senses, and the upstairs gym is the perfect place to exercise when it's too cold outside to go horseback riding or gardening.
Home gyms are a purposeful design tactic and offer functionality in an otherwise empty space. As noted, indoor facilities like these are ideal during winter months where strolling outside is prohibited by snow and freezing temperatures. From rolled towels to woven baskets, this gym set up is everything one would need to make working out comfortable at home.
9. She made renovations inside and out
Porcelain plates delicately cover the walls in this vintage-inspired sitting room and offer a glimpse into another era of time. The room is dripping in gold, which is found in everything from the couches to the mirrors on the walls. The wispy foliage adds some hints of color to this otherwise neutral-toned room. While seemingly untouched by Stewart's modern flair, this space brings a sense of character to the old farmhouse.
Stewart revealed on "MTV Cribs" how she has been redecorating the residence interior rooms and adding exterior finishes to the property. The renowned interior decorator shared on her blog how she has been continuously renovating not only the home but the animals' homes, too. The farm owner has made recent upgrades to the chicken coops and equipment on the property. In 2020, she hired a team to surround the coop with edging stone, change uneven steps, and install new feeders. Her animals enjoyed the refresh!
10. Her horse stables are huge
The gorgeous gray stable block pictured above is where Stewarts' three horses, two additional Fresianians, one fell pony, and five donkeys call home, as per The Martha Stewart Blog. The stables are nestled at the end of Boxwood Allee, a long stretch of road on the estate (via her blog). The gray cobblestone building perfectly complements the main residences' tone and color. This structure is a classic continuation of the neutral color palette seen throughout the buildings. The stables even have a farm office inside where Stewart takes time to share some of her most memorable photos.
Stewart often dotes on the horses and openly shares her passion for Cantitoe Corners to be a horse farm. On "MTV Cribs," Stewart notes that one of the horses she has is the same kind of horse Queen Elizabeth II rides. Stewart discusses the care of her animals candidly. She mentions the importance of feeding times for the horses, noting it's best to do so in the early mornings or early evenings, so the sun does not harm the horses' naturally beautiful black coats.
11. She has plenty of animals at the estate
If you look far enough, you can see the chicken coops in the distance just beyond the large lush horse paddocks from the front door of the "Winter House." There are a variety of species of animals at Cantitoe Corners. This giant estate where Stewart spends most of her time houses 150 chickens, five donkeys, three horses, and an additional two Fresianians and some geese, as per The Martha Stewart Blog. As mentioned, Stewart also cares for several species of bird and houses dogs and two cats, one of which is named Empress Tang (via Stewart's blog).
The animals at the farm have been catered to and cared for by Stewart and her team for several years. She shows no signs of slowing the growth of her farm. Recently she shared on her blog how the chickens were getting updated coops, complete with large antique bird cages and heaters for use during the colder months.
Amongst the bird species are a muster. A gathering of several peafowls, actually. Stewart even tweeted about having 21 beautiful peacocks on her property. According to her Instagram, sadly, six of them were attacked by coyotes. In addition, Stewart blogged about updating the peacock enclosures to include additional safety measures to prevent future predator incidents (via Martha Stewart Blog).
12. Her estate has several homes scattered throughout
The original 1770 Colonial-era house known as the "Summer House" is still on the property, per Velvet Ropes. It is the original residence built on the estate, but it is not Stewart's primary home. It is adjacent to the "Winter House" and has its own garden. A tenant cottage and a guest house named "Maple Avenue House" are also on the property. Stewart shares on her blog how her daughter, Alexis, and grandchildren stay at the cottage when they visit. There is even a modern house deep on the property that has yet to be touched by Stewart and her design team.
Although her estate was built in Colonial-era times, she renovated the buildings with modern, updated touches. For example, she updated an old garage into an extra entertainment space (she is the queen of dinner parties, after all!) and flipped a barn into a craft room. The new additions and new uses of the property will continue to add to the history of the estate.
13. She has gardens and greenhouses in the 'Summer House'
Per Insider, the property boasts an impressive vegetable greenhouse, floral greenhouse, corn crib, hoop house, hay barn, flower garden, and blueberry garden. All the gardens and greenhouses are neatly organized and perfectly arranged on the property. Stewart shares on her blog how the "Summer House" garden adds personality to the estate. One of the gardens most fancied on the farm is the peony garden. Stewart designed this garden to display 11 double rows of 22 different types of peonies.
Stewart and her team often tend to the floral and vegetable greenhouses. The home entertaining icon regularly shares how she grows a variety of species of flowers and multiple types of fruits and vegetables on her farm. During the "MTV Cribs" episode, she shares how she uses produce from the farm in the kitchen. Stewart also blogs about how she adores the Malus 'Gravenstein' espalier apple trees in the front yard during their peak season and fresh lettuce in her lunches and dinners, which comes from the gardens.
14. There are tennis courts and swimming pools in addition to gardens
How does one get around a farm of this capacity? A Polaris Ranger is the solution, according to Stewart. The favored outdoor vehicle is the regular transportation of choice to help navigate the multiple homes, greenhouses, animals, stables, gardens, and fields at Cantitoe Corners. The property still has plenty of space for a few pools, and there is also a recreational tennis court on the estate with lovely white hydrangeas just behind it, as per The Martha Stewart Blog. Noteworthy guests such as Shonda Rhimes and Snoop Dogg have also visited the home decor legend at the farm.
The farmhouse-style residence has seen its share of updates over the years, with classic neutral palettes accentuating the minimalist designs and elegant antique decor. Massive renovations have restructured buildings like the "Winter House," adding new rooms and creating modern spaces. It may be a 1920s farmhouse, but it has been transformed by Stewart's timeless style and contemporary flair.
15. She has a record-breaking maze
Just when you thought the estate had it all, Stewart surprises with a brand new, unique addition to her working farm. No, it's not another animal pen or garden, but rather a stunning display of lush greenery designed by the home mogul to break records — literally. She aims to break a Guinness World Record. "I'm planting a maze — an almost three-acre maze of many, many different kinds of trees and shrubs," Martha Stewart told Woman's Day. "It's so complicated. We just started it, I am so excited about it. I gave up one whole horse paddock on my farm to create this incredible maze." The horses are anything but displaced — there are plenty of paddocks and horse stables available on the property. With the help of her gardening staff, Stewart is well on her way to making a maze with only one correct route out and many dead ends.
Stewart is planting an actual living maze right out her front door with a combination of plants. According to the Martha Stewart Blog, the first row of the maze has been planted with several leafy green species, including European beech, European hornbeam, boxwood, and apple trees that will grow flat. The selection of plants is sure to amaze as each row of shrubbery is completed. We wouldn't expect anything less for a Guinness World Record project. "I just read that the Dole Pineapple has the largest maze in the world in Hawaii, it's called the Dole Pineapple maze. And guess what? Mine's going to be more than 2.2 acres. My guys are all excited about creating something that's going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records," Stewart shared. This isn't a project that is being rushed to completion, as Stewart anticipates the maze to be finished in about five years.