What You Need to Know About the House in Netflix's 'The Watcher'

April 15, 2024

The Watcher is the stranger-than-fiction true-crime series on Netflix from American Crime Story and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, creator Ryan Murphy.

Starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as Nora and Dean Brannock, the seven-part series is based on the spine-tingling true story of Maria and Derek Broaddus and inspired by The Cut article by Reeves Wiedeman, which brought their story into the public eye.

In The Watcher, just like the Broaddus family, the Brannocks move into their dream home in New Jersey, only to find their new chapter is about to become their worst nightmare.

Just shortly after they purchased the home, Dean Brannock begins to receive threatening and frightening letters from a person known as the Watcher, eventually driving them out of their home. The Watcher's identity has never been uncovered.

Newsweek has everything you need to know about the house in Netflix's The Watcher.

What You Need to Know About the House in Netflix's The Watcher

In June 2014, Maria and Derek Broaddus purchased their dream home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, just 28 miles from Manhatten, New York.

It was a six-bedroom early 20th-century mansion, costing them $1.4 million.

It was perfect for them and their three younger kids, and they could not wait to move.

However, just three days after sealing the purchase of their home, they received an anonymous typed letter welcoming them to the neighborhood.

But, as they read the contents of the letter, things quickly took a dark turn.

A segment of the letter read: "657 Boulevard has been the subject of my family for decades now and as it approaches its 110th birthday, I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched it in the 1960s. It is now my time. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out."

The author of the note began to share other details about the Broaddus family, including the renovations they were having done to 657 Boulevard and information about their young three children.

The note also taunted them about filling the home with "young blood", referring to the Broaddus children.

"Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me," the letter read. "Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too [sic] me."

In total, the Broaddus family received four letters from the mysterious Watcher.

They assumed it may be a close acquaintance or a neighbor, due to the details expressed in the letters, on the other hand, some neighbors suspected the Broaddus' had sent themselves the letters, in order to get out of moving into the home.

There were numerous persons of interest interviewed by police, most notably their neighbor Michael Langford and his sister Alice and a person known only as "The Gamer" who lived on the same street and played a character in video games known as "The Watcher". All leads were dropped when there was not enough evidence to link them to the letters.

Does The Watcher House Still Exist?

Today, 657 Boulevard is still standing.

The Broaddus family attempted to sell the home six months after the first letter from the Watcher arrived. They put the house on the market asking for a bit more money than they had paid due to the renovation work. They also disclosed they had received letters from the Watcher, leading to offers falling through.

In 2016, they attempted to sell the house to a developer, who wanted to tear down the home and redevelop the lot. However, their plans were ultimately rejected by the neighborhood planning board.

Eventually, they were able to rent out the house to a family and In July 2019, The Broaddus family sold the house for $959,000, which was $400,000 less than what they bought it for in 2014.

Ultimately, The Broaddus family never moved into their dream home at 657 Boulevard and the identity of The Watcher remains unknown today.

The Watcher is streaming on Netflix now.

Uncommon Knowledge

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