Inside Martha MacCallum's Cape Cod Escape (2024)

Three years ago, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum's dream house went on the market. The shingled Colonial was situated in Chatham, Massachusetts, on the elbow of Cape Cod. But that's not what sold this mother of three. "It had five bathrooms!" Martha says. "It was perfect."

Well, almost. Built in the 1960s and remodeled over the next two decades, the home felt dark, especially considering its quintessential seaside location. Decidedly un–Cape Cod–like details—such as a disco era's worth of wood paneling—dominated almost every room.

In this photo: The family painted over the living room's dark-pine paneling and then reupholstered their old sofa in a complementary hue. The rattan armchairs date to the 1940s, while the maps of Nantucket Sound are from 1874. The walls are painted Cambridge Heights by Benjamin Moore.

Instead of stripping the structure down to the studs, Martha and her husband, Dan, vice president of a New Jersey–based family business, were determined to spruce the place up quickly. They closed in August, with an ambitious goal: to host Thanksgiving there that fall.

In this photo: Martha and Dan left the rough-hewn paneling in the mudroom untouched and accented the space with pennants from their kids' sailing competitions.

Martha enlisted a friend, interior designer Michael Maher, to help meet her self-imposed deadline. "We decorated on speed dial," Martha admits.

Rather than purchase all new furnishings, Maher reupholstered things the family already owned. Martha scored several new-to-her pieces from the property's previous residents and filled in the blanks with accessories from area shops and garage sales.

In this photo: Martha acquired this antique bench—a perfect fit for the front hall—from the home's former owners. The walls are painted Monterey White by Benjamin Moore.

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"All it needed was paint," Martha says of the home. "A lot of beach houses are really neutral, but I like when the colors of nature—yellows, greens, blues—explode inside."

In this photo: Custom linen drapes frame waterfront views in the master bedroom. The walls are painted Patriotic White by Benjamin Moore.

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The closets that line the upstairs hallway store games and puzzles. Martha bought the wicker chairs and lattice-work pillows at Chatham shop Midsummer Nights; the sailboat photos are yard-sale finds.

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As soon as school's out, Martha's children decamp from their home in New Jersey and head to Cape Cod. "They get to spend a lot of time at the beach with their grandparents," she explains. And with their friends: Martha outfitted the kids' rooms with extra twin beds for sleepovers. "I love that dorm feeling," she says.

In this photo: Three iron beds from Garnet Hill allow the boys' room to accommodate an overnight guest. Striped L.L. Bean blankets echo the Ralph Lauren wallpaper, while framed anchor prints and maritime-themed throw pillows enhance the seafaring vibe.

Bright idea: Old nautical flags make clever curtains.

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Martha and Maher selected a creamy maize hue to cover most of the wood paneling and painted her daughter Elizabeth's room a vibrant turquoise, Caribbean Cool by Benjamin Moore.

In this photo: Headboards, upholstered in an ikat print by Quadrille, flank a Bungalow 5 nightstand. Small throw pillows by Jonathan Adler and cotton sari blankets layer on extra personality.

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Martha's goal was to create interiors that referenced the home's coastal location without resorting to tired seashell motifs. Hence, the fabrics in sunny yellows and soothing pale blues, the captain's chairs and nautical flags, the anchor prints and vintage sailboat photos. "It's sort of beachy and relaxed but sophisticated, all at the same time," says Martha. And yes, it was completed on schedule.

In this photo: The sunroom, furnished with a Frontgate wicker set, looks out over Cape Cod.