Living the suburban dream became a living nightmare for neighbors living nearby “The Watcher” home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey.
The seemingly idyllic town outside of Manhattan has been riddled with news trucks and unrest ever since Derek and Maria Broaddus purchased the massive six-bedroom house for $1.3 million in June, 2014. Days after moving in, they received their first harrowing note signed, “The Watcher.”
Their haunted house story is the basis for the new Netflix show with the same name, but in real life, neighbors were shaken up for years, and many are still questioning what really happened, residents say.
“It was kind of freaky. If you know Westfield, it’s more of a quiet town, more family oriented. When that story came out, it definitely struck people,” Ralph Bencivenga, 54, an owner at Bovella’s Pastry Shoppe in Westfield, who has been a lifelong resident working less than a mile from “The Watcher,” house told The Post.
Netflix/The Hollywood Archive
Courtesy of Bovella’s Pastry Shoppe
The home was the subject of the 2018 New York Magazine story detailing The Broaddus’ harrowing home buying experience in 2014 when they received a letter addressed to “The New Owner” with the anonymous scribe claiming he was in charge of watching the home.
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