This week “The Watcher,” a new horrifying Netflix miniseries, made its debut. It’s based on the real-life story of a New Jersey home and an enduring mystery of a stalker. Find out the true story–and what the show gets wrong.
Netflix miniseries the watcher debuts
The Watcher is based on a true story of a family who moved into a beautiful home in Westfield, New Jersey, in 2014. The family was harassed by an anonymous letter-writer who signed them “The Watcher.”
The series stars Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Mia Farrow, and Jennifer Coolidge. It already has quite a buzz going for it and a high IMDb rating as far as horror goes. But the truth, as is often the case, is stranger than fiction.
The real house and story that inspired ‘The Watcher’
The real Watcher House is located at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. Derek and Maria Broaddus purchased the home for $1.3 million in June 2014.
Only days after they moved in, they received their first frightening note signed: “The Watcher.”
The watcher’s letters asked chilling questions
What made the letters frightening was that each one included personal details about the owners, their home, and their children. The anonymous letters claimed that they wanted the house filled with “young blood,” the New York Post reported.
The watcher wrote in another letter that the home had been “the subject of my family for decades” and that they were waiting for its “second coming.”
Another letter asked: “How did you end up here? Did 657 Boulevard call to you with its force within?”
“657 Boulevard has been the subject of my family for decades now and as it approaches its 110th birthday,” the watcher wrote in one letter. “I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming.”
No one knows who the watcher is, whether a male or female.
The watcher claimed that a grandfather watched the house in the 1920s, and his/her father watched in the 1960s.
“It is now my time,” the watcher declared in a letter. “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.”
Letters become more sinister and threatening
As the letter writing continued, the content took on a more sinister and threatening tone.
“657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in,” the watcher wrote. ” It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet?”
“Will the young blood play in the basement?” The watcher continued. “Or are they too afraid to go down there alone. I would [be] very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.”
“Will they sleep in the attic?” The watcher added. “Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street? I’ll know as soon as you move in. It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better.”
Multiple investigations come up empty
After the Westfield Police Department conducted a lengthy investigation with no resolution, the Broadduses hired their own investigators. They hired a retired NYPD officer, a former FBI officer, and a forensic linguist. However, despite the investigative work, no useful information, leads, or evidence was ever discovered, according to New York Magazine.
Who lived in the house before them?
The first owners of “the watcher” house, built in 1905, were the Woods family, Jersey Digs reports. The mayor of Westfield in the 1930s, William H. Davies, once lived there, too.
Margaret Davies lived in the home from 1963-1988 and said she was surprised by the headlines. “We never had anything like this happen when we were there.”
What the TV series gets wrong
The first change The Watcher miniseries made was to switch the family’s last name to the fictional Brannock.
Also, unlike the fictional version where the family moves in immediately, the real Broadduses decided to complete renovations before moving into the home. Over the course of a year and half, the family received at least four threatening letters from “the watcher,” Today reports.
With months going by without the family moving in, the real-life watcher wrote in one of the letters: “657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in.”
Ultimately, the family did not move in and put the house back on the market in 2017. When it didn’t sell, they rented it out. Finally, the Broadduses sold the house in 2019 at a loss of roughly $400,000.
