In New Netflix Documentary, Martha Says This One Choice Made Her Who She Is Today

Martha has been a household name for decades. Known as the doyenne of homemaking, entertaining, and good taste, our founder is lauded as America’s first-ever influencer. While it’s hard to imagine a world where she doesn’t have this title, she revealed in her new Netflix documentary–simply titled Martha—that she largely credits her empire to one specific decision: moving from New York City to Westport, Connecticut. 

Martha moved to Connecticut in 1971 with her daughter Alexis and then-husband Andrew, following an eight-year career as a stockbroker on Wall Street. They moved into a beautiful farmhouse on Turkey Hill Road South, which was built on a tract of land that was once an onion farm. 

Purchased as a do-it-yourself project, Martha spent years renovating the property, cultivating its iconic gardens, raising farm animals, and buying the surrounding land to turn the farmhouse into a real home. In many ways, it’s what jump-started her career and turned her into the icon we know her as today. “If I hadn’t had Turkey Hill, I would not be me right now,” Martha said in the documentary. “But I would’ve been somebody. I would’ve been somebody else. I just wouldn’t have been ‘Martha Stewart Homemaker.’” 

Restoring Turkey Hill gave Martha a deep appreciation for homemaking. “I really liked the idea of fixing up a property, of expanding a property, of growing things,” she said. “Those early days on Turkey Hill Road made me realize that I really did enjoy homemaking.” 

Eventually, Martha began hosting lavish dinner parties for friends at Turkey Hill, which then evolved into launching her own catering company. “It occurred to me that I enjoyed creating fanciful, lovely, evocative kinds of entertaining. Why not start a catering business?” she said. Making entire menus from scratch, Martha catered events everywhere, from The Museum of Modern Art to impressive homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Westchester County, New York. 

At one of these parties, Martha was approached by a publisher who told her she should write a book. Thus, the concept for Martha’s first ever book Entertaining was born. First and foremost, she wanted the book to be educational and authentic. “I was the audience. I was everybody who was reading that book,” Martha said. “I clean my own house, I raise my own child, I had my husband, I had my garden. The personal story meant a lot to the reader.” 

Since then, Martha has gone on to write 99 additional books (her 100th tome goes on sale November 5, 2024), launch Martha Stewart Living magazine, and become the first self-made female billionaire when her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, went public in 1999. "Living is a subject that can be covered over and over and over again for years to come. Living is limitless," Martha said in the film.

The documentary, directed by RJ Cutler, chronicles all of these achievements and gives viewers a raw, never-before-seen look into Martha's life. The nearly two-hour-long movie draws on hundreds of hours of intimate interviews with Martha and those from her inner circle, along with her private archives of diaries, letters, and footage.

Martha is available to watch now on Netflix.