Fans of Martha Stewart who snapped up her towels and sheets will soon be able to live in a house designed by the domestic maven.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and KB Home, one of the nation's largest home builders, announced Wednesday that they are teaming up to build a line of new houses that the domestic queen will design.

The first jointly designed community -- to be named KB Home Twin Lakes: Homes Created with Martha Stewart -- will feature about 650 homes in Cary, N.C., a suburb of Raleigh, the companies said in a news release. Model homes are scheduled to be completed in early 2006.

Martha Stewart Living has suddenly emerged as the hot title within a languishing magazine advertising marketplace, MediaPost reports. While the title was a virtual untouchable among advertisers while Ms. Stewart was serving time in Federal prison, it's now a must-buy while most other big magazine titles see their ad pages erode. Living's ad pages jumped 43.6 percent in September versus September 2004. Ad pages for all PIB-measured magazines fell 1.3 percent in September. Through the first nine months of 2005, Living's pages are up 11.5 percent, while the PIB total is up just 1.0 percent.

HI Martha. I hope my prayers for you helped to give you strenth to overcome the injustice that landed you in jail. YOU GOT A RAW DEAL... I FEEL THAT YOU GOT PUNISHED FOR BEING A GREAT WOMAN BUSINESS WOMAN. I was having the same problem as soon as my business took off. the corporate gaints blocked every advance I was able to create.... Rhen tyey took my assets and my two homes. While you went to jail, I WAS PUT OUT OF MY HOME, WE WERE HOMELESS. MYhusband had a burnout & breakdown. ****I am a Poet. Your advice on finding an Agent would be appreciated.****

But Her Grab Doesn't Quite Match Her Brand.

A few weeks into Martha Stewart's unscripted TV show with its tepid ratings, and after announcements of Martha Stewart houses and Martha Stewart holiday music compilations, let me just say this: Slow down MS.

Let's start with the Martha Stewart homes, since that's the newest venture. A venture with KB Homes, the homebuilder, will begin marketing home designs inspired by Martha's own three homes, in a development, called Twin Lakes, in Cary, N.C. in 2006. The three home designs look okay. But here is the problem. I see three designs, each with two-car garages screaming in the front of each house. This, to me, is an aesthetic nightmare no matter how expensive the garage doors. Say what you will about Martha, but more than anything else, she stands for good taste.

Martha Stewart, already with two TV shows, is working on a third. Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, purchased a house in Norwalk last month that will be featured in a new home-improvement television show next year.

The series, which has no name yet, is about a group of women who learn trades and help renovate the 125-year-old house.

The 13-part series focuses on six women who are coming off welfare programs, recovering from bankruptcy or getting out of drug rehabilitation.

It seems as if the bloom is starting to fade from the rose that is Martha Stewart Incorporated. Five months in a minimum security prison, followed by five months of house arrest, had been accompanied by a requisite degree of sympathy. We remember the image of her immediately upon release in the poncho knitted by a fellow inmate. There she was, heading into her private plane like a Secretary of State deployed to take care of a Fashion Emergency, and that alluring head of silver hair fell perfectly down her face.

Reality quickly sets in for any ex-con once they re-acclimate themselves to the needs of society. Stewart worked from the inside to plot her return: the daily TV show, the magazine, and a dubious partnership with "Survivor" and "Apprentice" Producer Mark Burnett. Donald Trump imposed himself as well, and the premise seemed fairly interesting. Produce a twin of Trump's original "The Apprentice" and build it around Stewart. Certainly there were enough hungry, newly anointed MBA sharks or street-savvy tough guys swimming in the collective pool waiting to be plucked from obscurity and offered the chance to learn from the Masters.

Martha Stewart, free from house arrest and with a little break from her two new TV series, is expected in town next month for a reception in her honor at the International Home Furnishings Market.

Bernhardt Furniture, the Lenoir-based manufacturer of Stewart's furniture collection, will hold the invitation-only party Oct. 19.

Stewart was convicted of lying to authorities about a stock deal. She served five months behind bars in West Virginia and nearly six more months in home confinement.

Martha Stewart might be planning her big TV comeback Wednesday when her version of The Apprentice airs, but investors have been tuned in for months.

Investors have been puffing Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) stock up even while the company burned 14% of its cash in the past year and struggles with weak revenue.

The company has lost money in seven of the eight quarters following Stewart's indictment for obstruction of justice in June 2003 involving ImClone stock trades.

Martha Stewart, who says she's given up fur, has made a video for PETA.

"I used to wear fur, but like many others, I had a change of heart when I learned what actually happens to the animals," Stewart says in the video.

The 5-minute video on the fur trade is narrated by Stewart and is available on PETA's Web site, http://www.peta.org.

Martha Stewart is in hot pursuit of the 30-plus female.

The publication, which the company plans to launch some time next year, would be the first since Stewart was released from prison in March.

The news comes as the homemaking diva‘s company is polishing up the image of its founder and turning around its fortunes.

Stewart‘s new syndicated morning show called "Martha," debuted on Monday to good reviews, and a prime time show called "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" begins airing on Sept. 21. That show is unaffiliated with the company, but the brand is expected to profit from the exposure