Netflix’s ‘The Watcher’ Is Based On A Real House In New Jersey

The house at 657 Boulevard has curb appeal. And in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. So, when Dean and Nora Brannock set their eyes on the place, they immediately agree it’s their suburban dream home. They have to have it, but unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones who want it.

Hellbent on getting it, Dean (Bobby Cannavale) and Nora (Naomi Watts) have just purchased their dream home in the idyllic suburb of Westfield, New Jersey. On the surface, it’s a picturesque neighborhood with perfectly manicured lawns and tree-lined streets. In truth, it holds sinister secrets. Or is it all a hoax?

Dean and Nora put all their savings into closing the deal but soon realize their neighbors don’t want them there. They’re surrounded by suspects who all seem to have the same intention: to get them to sell the house. Their excitement quickly turns to regret when a stalker who goes by “The Watcher” starts leaving threatening letters in their mailbox.

This series is based on the shocking true story of the infamous “Watcher” house in New Jersey and Reeves Wiedeman’s article “The Haunting of a Dream House,” originally published in the November 12, 2018, issue of New York Magazine.

This gripping seven-episode series comes from co-creators, writers and executive producers Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, who recently brought NetflixNFLX
subscribers the disturbing masterpiece Dahmer.

There are plenty of colorful characters in the neighborhood. There’s an eccentric neighbor, Pearl (Mia Farrow), and as the president of the local preservation society, she loathes the concept of renovation. She lives with her oddball brother, Jasper (Terry Kinney), who sneaks into the Brannock’s house and hides in their dumbwaiter. There is also the nosy couple just across the way, Mitch (Richard Kind) and Mo (Margo Martindale), who don’t seem to understand the concept of boundaries and always have binoculars in hand.

The always-brilliant and hilarious (and recent Emmy award winner) Jennifer Coolidge portrays Karen Calhoun, a real estate agent and old acquaintance of Nora’s. Like everyone in the neighborhood, she has her share of secrets and motives. One secret she cannot keep is her desire to sell the house.

This whodunit is excellent from start to finish, but what’s the real story? In June 2014, Derek Broaddus and his wife, Maria, closed on the $1.3 million six-bedroom house at 657 Boulevard. Within days, they received the first letter. They hadn’t yet moved in but had already started doing some renovations, provoking the ire of the person writing the letters. Derek and Maria were excited to start this new chapter with their three children, who were 5, 8, and 10 years old.

“I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be,” the letter read in part. “Tsk, tsk, tsk … bad move. You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.”

More letters would follow, and the writer mentioned wanting “young blood” in the house. The couple went to the police and contacted the previous owners, John and Andrea Woods, who had lived in the house for 23 years.

Andrea told the new owners that a few days before she and her husband moved out, they had also received a letter from The Watcher that she described as odd. It also mentioned that The Watcher’s family had been observing the house for years. It was the first time the Woods received anything like it. She threw the letter away. When the new owners got their first letter, the old owners accompanied them to the police station. Detective Leonard Lugo advised them not to tell anyone about the letters, including the neighbors, who were now suspects. They were terrified.

More letters followed and made mention of their children. “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? 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,” another letter read in part. They hadn’t yet moved in and weren’t sure if they ever would.

Westfield is an upper-crust, well-to-do idyllic town. It’s less than an hour away from the bustling city streets of New York and the perfect place to raise a family. But their dream had turned into a nightmare. They’d already sold their old home, so they moved in with Maria’s parents. They were stuck paying the mortgage and property taxes on 657 Boulevard. Both were depressed, and within six months after that first letter, they decided to put the house back on the market and sell it. But you know how small-town gossip is. Rumors spread, and while some suspected the couple had buyer’s remorse and claimed it was a hoax to get out of the house, others felt sorry for them and saw them as victims.

They thought of selling, even at a loss, and instead decided to rent it out in the hopes that a few years without incident might help them sell in the future. As of 2018, the prosecutor’s office was still investigating, but no one had been caught.

Wiedeman’s article was updated on October 11, two days before the show’s October 13 premiere. It’s been four years since the article was first published, and the case remains unsolved. But a lot has happened.

In March 2019, five years after the Broaddus family paid more than $1.35 million for 657 Boulevard, they put it back on the market for $999,000. They hoped to sell it to a builder who would tear it down; a family bought it for $959,000. They took a considerable loss. Per Wiedeman’s update, the Broaddus’ made 60 mortgage payments of $5,495.13 for a house the family never lived in. The new owners claim they haven’t received any letters (yet), and though the investigation has continued, the case has gone cold but remains open. Without a confession or a DNA match, it may never be solved.

The article speculates that though the family has turned down countless media opportunities and offers from documentarians, the family made money by giving Netflix the rights to their story. You know how gossipy neighbors are. There are rumors the family made $10 million, but the reporter wrote that the money from the Netflix deal didn’t cover the family’s losses on the house. Maybe Murphy and Brennan’s TV adaptation will renew interest and help law enforcement finally solve the case.