Out of all the music videos made off of Britney Spears’ debut album, “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” is easily the least celebrated. While the tune is catchy and the pop star’s wardrobe and hair are most definitely on point (that bucket hat, amirite?), with no inimitable dance routine at its core nor MTV “Making the Video” special documenting the behind-the-scenes goings-on to accompany it, the segment largely flew under the radar (though Glamour magazine did rank it as her 13th best video overall in 2016).
Lensed in November 1999 and released the following month, the shoot was directed by Gregory Dark, who is described in a 2000 Entertainment Weekly blurb as “the former porn auteur of ‘New Wave Hookers’ fame.” Quite an unlikely candidate to helm a video for the teen starlet, especially considering the fact that, as Dark told EW, at the time Britney’s label, Jive Records, was hoping to “re-image her a bit” following her sexy schoolgirl turn in 1998’s “ . . . Baby One More Time.”
Chronicling a first break-up, “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” features a ringlet-crowned Spears swaying on a tire swing, waiting at a dusty roadside bus stop and laying in a field of sunflowers while mournfully singing lyrics like “Loneliness up ahead, emptiness behind – where do I go?” and “You were my first love, you were my true love, from the first kisses to the very last rose.”
Further cementing her image as a small-town girl at heart, the video also sees the singer packing up her belongings and moving away from her childhood home, saying goodbye to her mom, sister and boyfriend on the wraparound front porch of a picturesque Victorian residence. Purported to be in the fictional rural town of Cedar Springs, in truth the idyllic dwelling can be found about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles at 240 W. Hillcrest Blvd. in Monrovia. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
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Image Credit: James McClain Built in 1887, the same year that Monvoriva was incorporated, the house is one of the area’s oldest. It was originally commissioned by George W. Dumbell, a Tennessee transplant who worked as a bookkeeper for W. N. Monroe & Sons, the real estate company founded by William Newton Monroe, for whom the city is named.
George passed away prematurely at the age of 34 in July 1888, shortly after the home was completed. It was subsequently sold to retired Iowa doctor Dr. James W. La Force and his wife, who lived on the premises for the next 16 years. They wound up selling the place in 1904 because, according to Patch, James had purchased a large desk that wouldn’t fit in the diminutive Victorian. Rather than get rid of the piece, they traded up for a bigger abode – as one does.
Per a City of Monrovia Historic Preservation Commission Staff Report, the dwelling initially stood on the southeast corner of Magnolia Ave. and Hillcrest Blvd., which was then called Banana Ave. It was moved just about 250 feet east to its current location between 1904 and 1908, following the La Forces’ tenure. The original front porch was also swapped out around the same time for the Colonial Revival-style porch that fronts the property today.
The current owners acquired the pad, which they describe as “everyone’s idealized version of grandma’s house,” in March 1979 for $92,500. Zillow estimates its worth today at just shy of $1.1 million! Not a bad ROI. Because the place hasn’t been up for grabs in over four decades MLS images are nil, but a brochure from the 29th Annual Mother’s Day Old Homes Tour in 2011, which included the dwelling, states, “The interior features elegant coved ceilings throughout the home, as well as original brass hardware in all the rooms.”
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Image Credit: James McClain A City of Monrovia Historic Landmark, the pad features three bedrooms and two baths in 1,482 square feet, though from the outside it appears to be much larger. There is also a den and an office on the premises. The surrounding 0.30-acre lot is marked by mature foliage, rolling lawns and a backyard arbor.
Canopied by towering oak and pine trees, the home looks like a perfect slice of Americana and gives off a decidedly small-town feel. So it is no wonder Dark landed on it for the “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” shoot.
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Image Credit: Jive Records -
Image Credit: James McClain The video makes copious use of the property’s front porch, with Spears sitting on the side steps throughout the four-minute and 30-second segment, which can be watched here. It is there that the singer bids final adieu to her love interest, portrayed by Christopher Snyder, who, coincidentally, also fulfilled the same role in her “Born to Make You Happy” video.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake According to EW, “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” was meant to be “story-oriented, “serious and emotional,” which was a departure for the songstress at that point. To elicit the needed levels from the then 17-year-old, Dark said, ”I’d joke with her so that she would loosen up and feel comfortable acting, as opposed to being Britney Spears at that moment.”
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Image Credit: Jive Records Along with the exterior of the Victorian, the front bedroom, with its large bay window, was also utilized as the spot where Britney packs up her childhood belongings at the beginning of the video.
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Image Credit: Columbia Pictures The pop star was not the first to illuminate the home onscreen. In fact, according to Patch, by 2011 the property had already played host to 32 filmings! The place boasts a resume longer than that of most actors!
Just a few of the other productions to utilize it include the 1983 horror classic “Christine,” in which it portrays the residence where Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul) lives.
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Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures And it also pops up as Grandma Bunny’s (Betty White) house, where Marni (Kristen Bell) gets her hand stuck in her hair thanks to some errant denture glue, in the 2010 comedy “You Again.”