South Fulton County just keeps on evolving. The most current addition to the idyllic landscape dominated by lush rolling hills and upscale homes is the Martha Stewart-inspired Hampton Oaks community on Ga. Highway 92 at Butner Road. Open to the public beginning July 29, Stewart and builder KB Home provided a glimpse of the new community earlier in the week.

“I am excited about the opening of our Martha Stewart branded community here in the beautiful setting of Fairburn,” said KB Home Chairman and CEO Bruce Karatz. “I have no doubt these homes will appeal to a variety of home buyers with their smart designs inspired by Martha’s own homes and our KB Home quality craftsmanship.”

Karatz and Stewart said the Hampton Oaks development will feature 800 homes on 480 acres with more than one-third of that acreage dedicated to open space. The one and two-story homes will come in 17 different floor plans, ranging from 1,930 to 4,624 square feet. Homes are priced from $240,000-440,000, they said.

“This is a very, very special place. This beautiful community distinguishes us from our competition and it has a lifestyle that is better than the competition,” Karatz said. “This is a newly developing area and Hampton Oaks allows Atlanta a wide choice to homestyles, each with different looks, for large or small families, for those with modest budgets or those with more money to spend. For families in Atlanta, this is something you can’t replicate in many areas of the United States.”

For Stewart, the Atlanta area holds particular charms that make the Hampton Oaks community especially desirable.

“I was inspired by the gracious entertaining in people’s homes in Atlanta,” she said, reflecting on how the Southern lifestyle fits so well with the vision for Hampton Oaks. That vision includes aspects that would often be unrecognized or unknown to most, such as the exterior color of one of the model homes based on the color of Paul Newman’s eyes.

Stewart was not at a loss for words in describing the effort and intention that made her entree into the Atlanta market something special.

“This is an amazing value and I’m happy to be working with KB on this project. This is a beautiful tract of land, with rolling hills, water and trees,” Stewart said. “We worked hard to get this done.”

That work involved teams that centered on everything from architecture to interiors to landscaping. Stewart said many of the interior concepts were incorporated from some of her own homes.

“There are large islands and lots of counter and storage areas in the kitchen, including cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling and baths that are spacious with lots of lighting,” she said. “We worked hard to incorporate individual features into these homes. All this makes a home a home.”

Continuing with Stewart’s descriptions, Karatz noted that Hampton Oaks homes include large amounts of pantry and closet space, large laundry and mud rooms and lofts designed to be an extra bedroom or as gathering places for activities such as watching television. Watching television after homework is done, Stewart quickly added.

“This effort doesn’t happen without a lot of people who are passionate about what they’re doing,” Karatz said. “We’re extremely proud of this effort.”

Amenities at Hampton Oaks include a community clubhouse, community garden with plots for homeowners, nature trails, four lighted tennis courts, junior Olympic swimming pool and children’s pool, a family playground, landscaping packages designed by Stewart’s personal gardener and a 100 year-old barn that has been renovated and remodeled after Stewart’s Bedford barn.

KB Home builds homes across the United States and France, delivering 37,140 homes in 2005. KB Home was ranked the No. 1 homebuilder in Fortune Magazine’s 2006 List of America’s Most Admired companies.