Media coverage of the Watcher letters didn’t help, and some locals even accused the Broaddus family of cooking up The Watcher in order to get out of a mortgage they could no longer afford. Why didn't the Watcher House sell right away?Īs police investigations began on the couple’s Westfield neighbors, it got harder for the Broadduses to keep the story to themselves, and the house developed a spooky reputation. The colonial-style house cost $1,355,657 for 3,920 square feet in 2014. No one was ever hurt, but The Watcher was never caught. Unlike the Brannock family in The Watcher series, the Broaddus family never ultimately moved into 657 Boulevard, so fearful were they of harm to their children. (In an act of transparency, they insisted potential buyers read The Watcher's letters, which sunk most sales.) Then I can plan better.”Īs more letters rolled in, the Broadduses were driven nearly mad by police investigations, accusations of forgery, and attempts at finding a buyer for the house. It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Will they sleep in the attic? 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. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream. It is far away from the rest of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet? Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone. It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Later, the letters grew increasing ominous in their warnings: “657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in. 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.” My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. Shortly after the papers were signed, Derek received the first of several letters from an anonymous admirer of 657 Boulevard, known only as “The Watcher.” The first letter read, in part: “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. Luckily, they hadn’t yet moved into their new home in Westfield. ![]() Once they purchased 657 Boulevard, Derek and Maria Broaddus almost immediately began renovations on the old house. The now infamous Watcher House is indeed positioned at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, a neighborhood in New Jersey of around 31,082 people and a median household income of $158,323, according to the latest census data. ![]() (Take a look on Google Maps!) Here’s what to know about the truth behind the tale. The series inserts broad fictionalizations into the nightmare the real-life Broaddus family experienced, but the house itself is real. The so-called Watcher claimed to be in charge of watching the house and welcoming its “young blood,” a task that apparently has preceded The Watcher for generations. The limited series is based on a feature reported in The Cut, telling the true story of a family moving into a beautiful home in Westfield, New Jersey, in 2014, only to be harassed by an anonymous letter-writer called The Watcher. Viewers of The Watcher will undoubtedly have one pressing question after the credits play: If that creepy old house was real, what the heck happened to it? ![]() Tack on the little nugget that it’s based (loosely) on a true story, and well? You’ve got yourself a crowd of true-crime junkies eager to know more. Though the Broadduses did hire an impressive-sounding assemblage of private investigators, including Frank Shea, an ex-FBI agent, and another ex-FBI agent - this one the real-life basis for Clarice Starling in "The Silence of the Lambs" (per The Cut) - none of them turned up much in the way of leads, nor did they supplement the Broadduses' drama with their own rich backstories.Ryan Murphy’s newest Netflix series might take its creative license as gospel and pierce its story full of plot holes, but that doesn’t make the real-estate thriller The Watcher any less absorbing a binge. She also gradually teases out more and more elements of the Brannocks' case, often jumping the story forward through roundtable debriefings with Dean and Nora.Īny fans upset about the accuracy of Birch's presence will be glad to know that the change was an upgrade. Over the course of the series' seven episodes, Birch unfurls the rich tapestry of her personal life, including a career as a jazz singer, a corrupt, cheating ex, and a terminal cancer diagnosis. The Brannocks hire Birch early in the season at the suggestion of local detective Rourke Chamberland (Christopher McDonald), who is less able to help due to legal red tape.
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