ORMOND BEACH, Fla. -- There's no dearth of experts when it comes to seeking advice on how to make a house a home.

Yet no one has cornered the market on domesticity like Martha Stewart. In addition to her syndicated television talk show and monthly home magazine, the one-time model-turned-domestic goddess has authored more than two dozen books on cooking, gardening and home design and has introduced lines of home furnishings, dinnerware and paints.

		More information For information on Martha Stewart communities, visit www.kbhome.com/martha/ or call 1-888-524-6637.

You could almost argue she does everything but build the house for you.

Actually, thanks to a partnership with KB Home, one of the nation's largest home builders, the lifestyle guru has her perfectly manicured fingers in that industry, too. And, as she would say, it's a good thing.

In November, KB Home unveiled its ninth co-branded Martha Stewart community in this pretty town five miles from the ocean, north of Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. And thanks to its fresh take on Florida architecture and Ms. Stewart's signature attention to detail, it has quickly taken off.

To date, all but nine of its 40 home sites, a handful of which face a small man-made lake, have been snapped up. Sales have been so good, in fact, that the 87 lots planned for Phase II, located on a contiguous lot, will open for sale in the next couple of months.

The real estate market hasn't exactly been booming in recent years in Florida, even though the state remains one of the fastest-growing places in the country. Sales of existing single-family homes fell 29 percent statewide in 2007, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. That Deer Creek at Hunter's Ridge has proved such a runaway hit, then, is largely attributed to Ms. Stewart's star power.

"Her style is unprecedented," says George Glance, division president for KB Home Orlando. "And she is the most recognized person in what she does. So it was an obvious fit for us."

"She's a strong brand name," agrees Daniel Connell, sales counselor for the KB Home Deer Creek community. The fact it's the only Martha community in Florida, he adds, is a "great advantage" for the builder.

"It's unique to anything else being built," he says.

The first Martha Stewart-branded development debuted in Cary, N.C., in March 2006. Its immediate success led to similar subdivisions in Georgia, Texas, California and Colorado and a second one in Raleigh, N.C. Florida, says Mr. Glance, where KB Home has almost 50 active communities, was a logical next step.

While any number of locations might have drawn buyers, the builder decided on Ormond Beach because the community, which dates to 1880, has so much character. Known as the "Birthplace of Speed" (from 1903 to the 1930s its hard-packed beach was the Valhalla of auto racing), this quiet resort town of 40,000 halfway between Jacksonville and Cape Canaveral drew the likes of Will Rogers, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller each winter in the early 1900s.

KB Home enjoys a reputation as a high-quality builder. Yet what really makes Deer Creek so attractive is the fact that Martha Stewart herself had such an active hand in designing its homes and included so many of the stylish nuances for which she is known. Two of the three designs, which range from about 1,680 to 3,400 square feet and include three to six bedrooms and 2 1/2 to 3 baths, were inspired by her residences in upstate New York (the Katonah) and Maine (the Skylands). Prices start at about $200,000 without upgrades.

Too many new homes are little more than characterless boxes. Not so with these two models, which include such timeless architectural features as extra-deep crown moldings, 8-foot interior doors, ceilings that stretch more than 9 feet, wainscoting throughout and front doors with sidelights. And windows. Plenty of windows.

The grand center hall in the Colonial-style Katonah, for instance, which is graced with dark slate floors and elegant white-painted judges' paneling, opens on the left through a set of pillars to a formal dining room with a built-in buffet. A formal library is directly opposite and features a window seat framed by built-in bookcases. Equally stylish and functional is the kitchen, where bright-white cabinets climb all the way to the ceiling and an extra-large black granite island extends the room's storage. Other details that speak to Ms. Stewart's impeccable sense of style include bin pull handles, a farmhouse sink, white subway tile backsplashes and hidden electrical outlets.

Even more appealing is the two-story Skylands model next door, the centerpiece of which is a 20-foot-tall wainscotted foyer. Modeled on Ms. Stewart's 1925 pink granite home on Maine's Seal Harbor, it includes an old-style butler's pantry off the eat-in gourmet kitchen, a stone fireplace in the living room and hand-sculpted maple peppercorn floors in the paneled formal living and dining rooms. It also includes storage hidden under the stairs and a pair of built-in desks on the second floor landing. It's so pretty that is inspires even lookers to become buyers. Just ask Ormond Beach Mayor Fred Costello.

He and his wife initially visited the site because his son was looking for a home. "But we just fell in love with it," he says.

The stucco Dunemere model, conversely, illustrates Ms. Stewart's appreciation of coastal architecture. Louvered Bahama window shutters, wood-grain ceramic floors and beadboard maple cabinetry give this home a beachy feel. Ditto with the white-painted horizontal wainscoting in the first-floor master and the covered lanai off the living room. Like the other models, it also makes good use of windows (there's even one in the walk-in closet) and has a well-planned laundry room and ample storage.

Furnished and accessorized with pieces from her upscale Bernhardt furniture line and home goods collection from Macy's, they also boast a decidedly sophisticated color scheme from her Lowe's paint line (colors include golden cornmeal and grass green). As a result, you could quite literally buy a home that exactly mirrors the models, right down to the rugs on the floor, paint on the woodwork and drapes on the windows.

And if you don't? All buyers get to visit the KB Home Studio in Orlando, where a personal design consult will help you navigate the more than 10,000 choices in flooring, appliances, countertops and everything else you need to create a one-of-a-kind home.

Martha Stewart's good taste notwithstanding, all buyers are looking for choices and the chance to express their individuality, says KB Home's Mr. Connell.