This has been a big week in the Britney Spears universe! Not only did “Framing Britney Spears,” “The New York Times Presents” documentary about the pop star’s much-contested conservatorship, hit Hulu on February 5, but her father, Jamie, also sold the longtime family home, where the singer grew up, the very same day. Though the doc incited a social media maelstrom, somehow the house sale went largely unnoticed. Not much was made when the residence initially hit the market last June, either, which is surprising considering the place is a veritable piece of pop history.
The ranch-style property should be familiar to anyone who ever picked up a copy of the April 15, 1999 issue of Rolling Stone magazine and perused the cover story, “Britney Spears: Inside the Heart, Mind & Bedroom of a Teen Dream.” Journalist Steven Daly and photographer David LaChappelle did indeed take readers inside the pop star’s bedroom, as well as through the rest of her Kentwood, Louisiana home. The controversial spread, Brit’s first-ever cover story, went on to become one of the most famous ever published by the magazine.
The modest single-story residence at 14550 Greenlaw Church Rd. hardly seems a likely backdrop for such a landmark piece. Built in 1979, the ranch-style pad, which consists of three bedrooms and two and a half baths in 2,299 square feet, is jarringly normal, though the interior is a bit of a relic.
With granite countertops and a tiled backsplash, the kitchen appears to have been updated at some point. But the rest of the property remains seemingly untouched from its 1979 incarnation, with the extensive wood-paneling to prove it.
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Image Credit: Zillow.com Inside the humble dwelling, you’ll find vaulted ceilings, an eat-in kitchen with a pantry, an office, a wood-burning fireplace and wallpaper borders. Lots and lots of wallpaper borders. Britney’s mom, Lynne, was obviously a fan of the dated decorative trim, as it can be found lining the ceiling of pretty much every room.
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Image Credit: Zillow.com Outside on the massive 1.87-acre lot is a two-car garage, two large metal storage buildings and a detached studio space (above, looking a bit worse for wear) that the Spears family patriarch operated for many years as a local gym known as Total Fitness by Jamie.
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Image Credit: Zillow.com The listing makes note of the fact that the property is “tucked away from the hustle and bustle.” But according to Ruth Laney of Country Roads magazine (“South Louisiana’s best cultural coverage!”), the entire town of Kentwood is far removed from any sort of hustle or bustle. In a 2015 article, Laney describes her first visit to the small hamlet, which boasts a population of 2,100, saying “There was no hotel, no Walmart, not even a McDonald’s. If you wanted a fast-food lunch, you went to the Sonic.” Indeed, whenever she’s in town Britney has to travel across state lines to Osyka, Mississippi to visit her longtime favorite restaurant Nyla’s Burger Basket (from which she once called into MTV’s “Total Request Live” to speak with host Carson Daly).
So remote is the Spears homestead that when Steven Daly telephoned Lynne for directions prior to the Rolling Stone interview and she told him to turn right at “the burning bush,” she literally meant a burning bush, not a cheekily-named establishment as Daly had surmised. “It’s an actual bush that’s burning in our neighbor’s yard,” she told him. “You can’t miss it.”
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Image Credit: Zillow.com During the interview, Britney snacked on a grilled cheese sandwich and waxed poetic on her burgeoning stardom, while Lynn folded laundry on the living room floor nearby. The circumstances behind the shoot couldn’t have been more down-home or normal, though the resulting spread was anything but.
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Image Credit: Screen capture courtesy of FX/Hulu LaChappelle captured the then 17-year-old in various poses, including standing in front of a white enameled vanity in her bedroom flanked by a large array of dolls. Of the “girly” enclave, Daly said, “The tiny space, like the rest of the house, is awash in floral patterns and frills; throw cushions cover every square inch not colonized by an impressive collection of pale-faced dolls, from porcelain models to squishy plastic specimens.”
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Image Credit: Zillow.com The furniture visible in the now-famous image is long gone. Jamie and Lynne donated Britney’s entire bedroom set to the Kentwood Historical and Cultural Museum, which has a large section dedicated to the local girl who made good. The furnishings stand in a glass-fronted exhibit, frozen in time from the Rolling Stone shoot. Two items not on display? The mirror behind the star’s door, which remains hanging in the house today, and the pale blue carpeting, which still covers the floor. The carpeting was chosen by Britney herself. As noted on the Brokeist website, the star told “CountDown:United Kingdom,” “I have the baby blue carpet because it’s my favorite color.”
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Image Credit: Zillow.com Britney also posed for LaChapelle in the family’s wood-paneled living room wearing a royal blue bandeau and matching skirt, flipping her hair almost as high as the ceiling, while her brother, Bryan, and sister, Jamie Lynn, looked on. The image is a re-creation of a common scenario that played out repeatedly during Britney’s early years. Daly writes, “Bryan Spears remembers his sister dancing in front of the TV, trilling Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer.’ ‘It was very annoying,’ he confirms.”
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Image Credit: ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks Rolling Stone is not the only media outlet the family invited into the home. In 1993, a special for “The Mickey Mouse Club,” on which Spears had just secured a role, was shot at the residence. Britney’s cousin, Laura Lynne Covington, also gave “MTV News” a tour of the place in 1999. And in February of that same year, a few months before the Rolling Stone shoot, People magazine captured some photos at the pad for a piece about the soon-to-be pop princess titled “A Major Minor.”
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Image Credit: Zillow.com The Spears clan did not stay at the residence long after Britney hit the big time. In 2001, the singer had a custom estate built for her parents just a few miles away. (It, too, was the site of a magazine cover story for InStyle). The couple held onto their former home, though, and it is there that Jamie moved upon splitting from Lynne in 2002 and where he has remained up until the recent sale.
During his tenure, he didn’t take too kindly to fans showing up at the property. In 2002, he admitted to pulling a gun on four teenagers who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous pad. Lynne was apparently much more accommodating when she lived on the premises. During an appearance on Conan O’Brien, Britney explained that whenever admirers popped by, her mom would invite them in for tea!
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Image Credit: Zillow.com Originally listed at $289,000 by Larissa Sharkey Dean of Real Living Bobby Drude & Assoc., the pad ultimately sold for $275,000.
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Image Credit: Zillow.com The residence was offered “fully furnished,” so the purchaser not only secured Britney’s childhood home but some of her former furnishings, as well! Talk about a coup!
Coincidentally, another of the pop star’s former abodes – the Beverly Hills mansion where much of her very public 2007/2008 breakdown occurred – sold this past Sunday. As I said, it’s been a big week in the Britney Spears universe, especially property-wise.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Britney Spears’ childhood home is located at 14550 Greenlaw Church Rd. in Kentwood, Louisiana. Disclaimer: Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way. Other area spots related to the singer can be found in this guide.