‘You are despised by the house’: the mysterious true story behind Netflix’s The Watcher-Kimberley Bond-Entertainment – Metro

For the Broaddus family, their purchase of 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, was their dream come true.

The sprawling six-bedroom Dutch colonial home, first erected in 1905, was perfect for a well-to-do couple with a growing family. Just a short, 45 minute drive to New York City, Derek and Maria were keen to refurbish the classic décor and move in with their three children after purchasing 657 Boulevard for a cool $1.4 million in 2014.

But just days after the Broaddus’s completed on their sale, the couple started to receive a slew of bone-chilling letters issuing threats to the house, their safety and even on theirs and their children’s lives.

With their mysterious stalker addressing themselves only as ‘The Watcher’, the property investment dream-turned-nightmare has become the foundation of Netflix’s new series, also titled The Watcher, brought to the small-screen by Ryan Murphy – the brains behind the hugely popular and equally disturbing American Horror Story.

The series stars Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts as the unfortunate Dean and Nora Brannock, who receive the threatening correspondence that start to terrorize the family.

Now, over eight years since the letters began, the Broaddus family say they are ‘still traumatised’ by threats from The Watcher, and believe they were a victim of an ‘unhinged lunatic’ from what appeared to be a perfectly safe neighbourhood.

It wasn’t something that should have happened in Westfield, an affluent suburb that was close enough for workers to commute to Manhattan while also shielding children from the looming urban jungle nearby. The area was considered largely quiet and appealing, named by website NeighbourhoodScout to be the 30th safest town in America and the country’s 99th richest.

With its mint green exterior, charming Dutch architecture and leafy green streets, it’s easy to see how Derek and Maria felt completely head over heels for 657 Boulevard when they viewed it. The couple already had a close, personal relationship with the area, with Maria having grown up just a few blocks away. The noveau-riche Derek, who came from a working class family and had worked his way up in the Big Apple to become a senior vice president of an insurance company, now had a pay cheque large enough to cover the down payment on their dream home.

Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts star as Dean and Nora, who are based on the Broaddus family and their isolating experience (Picture: Netflix)

There was a feeling of excitement in the house amongst the couple and their three children, who were reported to be openly discussing which fireplace in the huge house Father Christmas was slide down first. After completing the sale, Maria and Derek brought their brood to see their new abode and happily chatted to neighbours. It was a close-knit community, and the family was keen to be a part of it.

However, three days after completing the sale, Derek returned to his new house to do some light painting and renovating late into the evening. Taking a break from his work, he quickly checked the letterbox to find some bills and a thick, white envelope addressed to ‘The New Owner’.

The tone of the anonymous letter started off in a friendly manner, welcoming the Broaddus family to the neighbourhood – but as Derek read on, the letter’s narrative took a turn, criticising the family for renovating the property.

Talking about the house as if it was sentient, the letter read: ‘I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be.

‘Tsk, tsk, tsk … bad move. You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.’

The letter didn’t stop there. Suggesting there was a correspondence with the previous owners, the writer acknowledged Derek had three children and asked: ‘Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children?’

It was signed off only by two words that came to haunt the Broaddus family for years to come – in a spindly cursive font, it read: The Watcher.

The Brannock family receives a series of threatening letters, much like the Broadduses did in real life (Picture: Netflix)

Understandably terrified, Derek contacted the police department with an officer reportedly reading the letter and asking: ‘What the f*** is this?’ An investigation was launched, and detectives warned the family not to tell any neighbours about the letter as they were now all potential suspects.

It was the threats issued to the Broaddus family’s young children that particularly scared them, with Maria watching her brood very carefully when they next visited the house and ushering back into her line of vision if they wandered too far.

Meanwhile, Derek got in touch with the previous owners, the Woods family, to ask if they received any letters from someone who called themselves ‘The Watcher’.

Andrea Woods quickly replied, confirming they had received a letter shortly before moving out, but had largely just ignored it. There was never any reason for she and her husband to feel scared in Westfield, she said – it was thought to be so safe that they even left their doors unlocked.

So the Broaddus family were left distraught when a few weeks letter, a second letter arrived. Now referring to the family by name (albeit misspelled Braddus), the new letter was particularly sinister, as it was fixated on their youngsters.

As well as referring to the three children by their names and nicknames, The Watcher implied they were willing to cause harm to the family.

‘Will the young blood play in the basement?’ the letter asked. ‘ I would [be] very afraid if I were them…  If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.

‘I pass by many times a day. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too Braddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed!’

Fearing for their family’s safety, Derek and Maria stopped bringing their children to the house. The letters were so unnerving, they started to debate whether they should move in to the new house at all, or remain staying at Maria’s parents for longer.

Nora starts to watch her children more intently in the series (Picture: Netflix)

After several weeks, a third note was delivered – this time with The Watcher asking where the Broaddus family had got to.

Details of all three letters seemed to suggest the so-called ‘Watcher’ was someone close by, with the Broaddus family launching their own investigation – setting up webcams and using their high-powered status to contact FBI agents to assess who The Watcher could be and how much risk they were. Derek and Maria thought it was potentially someone in earshot, and narrowed down their search for their stalker to around 10 houses.

It was Derek’s conversation with a neighbour two doors down that alerted his suspicion to the Langford family that lived next door.

Matriarch Peggy was in her 90s, and several of her adult children, all in their 60s, lived with her. The neighbour referred to Peggy’s son, Michael Langford, as a particularly peculiar character, describing him as a childlike and socially awkward figure not unlike Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Michael had been taken in for questioning by police previously, but denied ever sending any letters to his neighbours. Although he was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was young, and occasionally engaged in some odd behaviours – like staring into people’s houses – it was generally accepted by the neighbourhood that Michael would not be capable of sending those sorts of malicious correspondence. He was considered kind and good natured, often picking up the newspaper for others on his street.

Jasper and Pearl are thought to be loosely based on the Langford family, and are played by Terry Kinney and Mia Farrow in the series (Picture: Netflix)

Oddball characters Jasper and Pearl, played by Terry Kinney and Mia Farrow in Netflix’s series, The Watcher, are thought to be very loosely based on the Langford family. Jasper’s behaviour, in particular, was hammed up for dramatic effect – in the opening scene, we see Jasper announcing how many bones a baby’s body has and hiding in the dumbwaiter (the latter of which is not thought to exist, although is a focal point in the TV show).

Other suspects in the fray included another neighbour, who were based behind 657 Boulevard. The link is tenuous – suspicion arose due to the ‘uncomfortable proximity’ of the chairs to the Broaddus’s house. They are presented as figures of fun in the Netflix series, providing comic relief and being accused of being in a ‘satanic cult that killed babies and drink their blood’ – although this is nothing more than Murphy flexing dramatic license.  

Nevertheless, the Broaddus family were thoroughly spooked by the whole affair, and after receiving three letters, plans were being made to put their once-dream house back on the market.

Speaking to The Cut in 2018 – the article in which the Netflix series is based on – Maria explained their decision to do so: ‘At the end of the day, it came down to, “What are you willing to risk?” We weren’t going to put our kids in harm’s way.’

Other neighbours, who had their garden chairs facing 657 Boulevard were also considered suspicious – but played for laughs in the series (Picture: Netflix)

However, the house was failing to sell at a higher price, and so, somewhat disgruntled, they decided to file a legal complaint against the Wood family, insisting they should have been informed by the previous owners about the letter.

The case was dismissed, but newswires picked up on the story, which received national attention. While this garnered even further interest in the case, 657 Boulevard still failed to sell.

The real-estate lawyer for the property came up with a plan – sell the house to a developer which can tear down the house, and build two new homes. However, there needed to be an exception made by the Westfield Planning Board – both plots for the new houses would be slightly smaller than the standard 70 feet wide needed to build.

The planning hearing was well attended – over 100 people in the neighbourhood turned up, and many were strictly opposed to the idea of the demolition of the property.

Abby Langford, the sister of Michael, spoke out at the event, telling observers: ‘I spent almost 60 years looking at a magnificent, beautiful house,’ she is reported to have said, adding she didn’t ‘want to be looking out at a driveway.’

The board unanimously rejected plans to demolish the house, leaving Derek and Maria back at the start, two and a half years after they initially bought the property which they still had not moved in to. They even went as far to get a priest bless 657 Boulevard.

Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.

Stuck with a house they no longer wanted, they were forced to rent out a property to a new family, while they lived elsewhere in Westfield. It seemed that finally The Watcher was now leaving them alone. But another letter shattered the tranquilty the family thought they’d earned.

The letter was one of the most disturbing yet. Telling Derek and Maria to ‘turn around, idiots,’ the Watcher claimed they were closer to the family than they imagined, and even pointed towards harming the couple.

‘Maybe a car accident,’ The Watcher mused. ‘Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you fell [sic] sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet. Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.’

While the tenants agreed to stay in the house, the Broaddus’ were making a loss from their rental income. Describing the ordeal as ‘like a cancer’ in The Cut, Derek and his family were left broken and exhausted from constantly living in fear.

The family claim to still be traumatised from the events that were dramatised in the series (Picture: Netflix)

It was in 2019, five years after they had bought 657 Boulevard – their dream house that had proved nothing but a nightmare – that the property was finally sold. Although, it was at a loss, going for $900,000 (a significant $400,000 less than what they had purchased it for).

With all the controversy around the building, the sale was not an easy one, said David Barbosa, the owner of David Realty Group.

‘That was our biggest hurdle: Trying to get over that stigma,’ he told Entertainment Weekly. ‘Plus, you had people riding by the house, taking pictures, walking up to the front door, it was crazy.’

As they left the property behind for good, Derek and Maria wrote their own letter to the new owners of 657 Boulevard.

‘We wish you nothing but the peace and quiet that we once dreamed of in this house,’ the letter somewhat sadly read, alongside a copy of The Watcher’s correspondence in case the person in question ever wrote again. However, as of October 2022, no further letters have been sent.

The case now lies dormant. Online sleuths have suggested other suspects: Abby Langford found herself being suspected after one of The Watcher’s letters contained female DNA – but no charges have ever been brought to the family. Michael died in 2020, and the Langford family have been left irate that they’re still being implicated in this story.

‘It f*****g never ends,’ a member of a family told the Independent. ‘We got accused of doing something that we didn’t do.’

While their characters are hammed up for the series, the Langford family have maintained all innocence and have never been linked to the letters (Picture: Netflix)

Meanwhile, author Robert Kaplow, who has previously expressed an admiration for a house he grew up in in Westfield in the 60s, was also suspected. He denied any involvement to The Cut and claimed that it was a different house nearby that he had been writing to – with the owners of said property even letting him housesit.

For Derek and Maria, the pair still live in Westfield, albeit in a smaller property some distance from 657 Boulevard. In a brief interview with The Sun, Derek explained the family are still ‘traumatised from events’ and are now trying to move on with their lives.

While there’s been no further evidence about who The Watcher may have been, Derek is still convinced it was someone who lived close by.

‘There is a mentally unhinged lunatic in that neighborhood,’ he said.

The family added they don’t plan on watching the Netflix series, which has rocketed straight to the top of the streamer’s charts.  

More: TV

Whether The Watcher will re-emerge again remains to be seen – but with renewed interest in the case, the whole world will be watching if they do choose to pick up their poison pen.

Whatever they choose to do next, they certainly succeeded in driving a family out of a close-knit neighbourhood.

Their final letter read: ‘You are despised by this house. And The Watcher won.’

The Watcher is available to view on Netflix

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Kimberley.Bond@metro.co.uk 

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