The Real Story Behind Netflix’s The Watcher, 657 Boulevard
Netflix’s The Watcher is based on the true story of Maria & Derek Broaddus’ frightening experience when purchasing their dream home and how a series of strange letters signed by someone watching over the home drove them away.
It is a story without any violence, but one that stays in the minds of many because despite all efforts no one has been able to solve this mystery.
Who is “The Watcher”?
No one knows. This case is still unsolved. If you are interested in the updates on this case they can be found on The Cut.
Published originally on The Cut. You can read the real story there if you do not want to watch a YouTube video breaking it down.
I came across this story when I was working from home as a freelance web designer. I was lonely and had no one to talk to and so I used YouTube videos to fill the void of having a chatty co-worker nearby. I had recently just fallen into the true crime content as a substitute for paranormal stories as there wasn’t much out there.
Stephanie Harlowe is my favorite for True Crime content and when she started telling the bizarre story about an unknown person leaving typed letters with handwritten envelopes that no one could figure out my mind couldn’t get past it.
There’s so much technology available now and we are being outsmarted by a basic typewriter and simple handwriting. It seems foolish, but it is very true.
The story doesn’t have anything paranormal sightings, murder, or even something that actually put someone in danger. The tale is simplistic. A tale of the paranoid mind. I often wondered what if the Broaddus family had just ignored the letters what would have happened to them?
Would the letters continue? What would the letters be? Would actual harm come beckoning? What would you do if you received these strange letters from someone confessing that they are watching you?
“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. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. 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“
The Watcher — Source: The Cut
Netflix’s The Watcher Mini-Series, Was Released On October 13, 2022
The series is based on a true story that was published via The Cut. There are 7 episodes that run about an hour long. I believe the whole premise of the show is to take the viewer on an adventure where we explore every possibility, even those that are obviously illogical.
The Fabrications Of Netflix’s The Watcher
The Watcher Home
The Broaddus’ Home
The actual home address of the watcher home is 657 Boulevard, Westfield, New Jersey, 07090. These are the photos of the interior of the home. This home has 6 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms, and is sprawled over 3,869 square feet. It was sold on July 2nd, 2019 for $959,000.00. This is where the letters were delivered to Maria and Derek Broaddus. If you have watched Netflix’s mini-series you will realize that this house isn’t the house in the series. It looks similar, but it isn’t nearly as majestic as the one used for filming. The home used for filming the watcher series is actually 1 Warriston Ln, Rye, NY 10580
The Brannock Home
The home used for filming The Watcher is 1 Warriston Ln, Rye, NY 10580. This 6 bedroom, 7 bathroom home is set on 1.25 acres of land and hosts a large backyard pool. This home is incredibly stunning. It should be considering that the value is nearly $6 million dollars. Jennifer Coolidge who is Karen Calhoun the looney real estate agent in the show gives us a video tour of this gorgeous house.
The Teen Love Story
There was no love story between the resident’s teen daughter and a young man that installed their security system. This was completely fabricated for the run time of the series. The Broaddus couple had three beautiful children that were all around the age of 10 when the story of The Watcher took place.
The Private Investigator
The Broaddus family did hire a private investigator. However, the private investigator didn’t find as much as Theodora did in the series. The actual investigator tested the DNA left behind on a water bottle by one of the female neighbors. When the DNA was tested it came back negative for a match.
John Graff / John List
The story about John Graff is actually true. However, he was not a suspect for The Watcher and this part of the show is completely fictional and just something that was weaved into the story for additional content. The actual person’s name is John List and the gruesome tale does take place in the same city, just not at the 657 Boulevard address as told in the story.
John List who was also a suspect in the D.B. Cooper case murdered his immediate family on November 9, 1971, in their 18-bedroom home at 431 Hillside Avenue, Westfield, NJ. No one knew the family was deceased until December 7, 1971, because the family wasn’t very engaging in the public and preferred to stay to themselves.
The neighbors did notice that the lights in the home stayed on all day and night, but there was not a stir. Once the light bulbs burned out one by one people nearby called the police.
The police found John List’s wife and 3 children place on top of sleeping bags in the mansion’s ballroom and he left his mother’s body in her apartment in the attic.
He made a sandwich for lunch, right before closing his bank accounts and killing his son.
John List did write his paster a 5-page letter in which he claimed that he had seen too much evil in the world and wanted to save his family’s souls. He did clean the crime scenes, cut his face out of any pictures that featured him, and turned the radio on to a religious station before departing the murder scene.
John E. List was living under the name Robert P. Clark. He remarried and worked as a cook and an accountant. They both lived in a red brick home on Montbello at 47th and Peoria in Denver, Colorado.
The Tunnel in 657 boulevard
There were no tunnels in the watcher house at 657 Boulevard, Westfield, NJ.
The Paranormal Activity
The woman that is seen sleeping with the homeowner Derek Broaddus/Derek Brannock is supposed to be John Graff’s dead daughter, Pat Graff (Pat List). They never outright say that in the series because it sounds ridiculous which is why they went with the idea of an actress somehow sneaking into the home to set up Derek. Yet, none of this actually happened, and once again is just a fable.
The Tracksuit Twins Murder Across The Street
Another fable. This never happened. The primary suspects or neighbors of The Watcher House consisted of a widow that lived across the street, and another neighbor that was a mother that kept her 60-year-old son and daughter at home with her. Everyone believed that Michael, the 60-year-old son was the one who was writing these letters.
The Watcher Netflix Series Review
Netflix purchased the rights to the story in 2018 which had many of us wondering how they were going to run this story. Finally, Netflix released their solo trailer for this series in the Autumn of 2022, and I knew that if this was going to be a series that there was going to be a lot of false information involved. There is no way to turn such a simple tale of receiving odd letters to your home into a 7 episode series.
When I saw the trailer and learned that Ryan Murphy was involved I knew there would be a lot of creativity involved and I wasn’t wrong. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this show.
It was quite a thrill even though I knew the true story, it was fun seeing if they would actually choose someone to be the watcher or end the story as it currently is, unsolved.
My Favorite Parts of The Watcher
The Neighbors!
Mia Farrow was the star of this show. I loved every scene she was in and I loved when she would scream “You’re not being very neighborly” or when she said “I guess I just don’t know whose funeral I attended” which made me pause Netflix since I couldn’t stop laughing.
Big Mo & Mitch, the Tracksuit Twins, whatever you want to call them had me laughing with their reactions in regard to the rhubarb in the garden. Big Mo was flat-out rude to Mr. Brannock, but honestly… he deserved it because it wasn’t that serious.
I didn’t enjoy these parts
Theodora — The Private Investigator
Theodora’s back story about being a recovered alcoholic and former jazz singer that turned her life around due to a newfound obsession with true crime didn’t serve as well as I believe they intended. There are so many things wrong with this private eye, but I will try not to discuss every single little thing.
From the jump Theodora is seemingly desperate to take this case for $50 per hour as she is suffering from cancer and has a daughter who is a single mother to care for. She boasts about how she has solved over 90 cases and I believe her reputation for solving cases sent all of us on a wild goose chase.
She believed that Dakota, the 19-year security system guy was the watcher because his gamer tag is the watcher. Now, this was just such a stupid take because if she is such a great investigator she would have figured out that the young man was romantically involved with their teenage daughter. She simply just jumped to conclusions here which led to serious allegations that could have been avoided and also saved some time.
Theodora visits the police station to inquire about Jasper Winslow their prime suspect that loves riding the dumbwaiter at 657 Boulevard. She says it was like they were waiting for her to ask as the evidence box was unsealed.
She shares the story about John Graff and how he murdered his family in the home that the Brannocks currently live in, but when Derek Brannock swears he met John Graff she is so dismissive.
Why? Is it because the story was not at their home and you knew that? Could it be that even though all of her theories are ridiculous she couldn’t dare believe it was a possible lingering ghost or believe it is possible that he in fact was John Graff?
Ms. Birch continues with even more terrible conclusions such as saying that the watcher is the husband Derek Brannock based off of one letter. Okay, so what about the other 2 letters? 1 out of 3 is still a failing grade if you ask me. She was quick to confirm this with Nora Brannock, but wouldn’t entertain Derek’s conclusions even though she was the one who fed them to him.
Then the story of Roger Kaplan the guy who created Ode To A House, caused another dead end as he was not involved. He was simply a teacher who wanted to share his passion for architecture with his students.
Also, the ending bit is where she is on her deathbed and she confesses to being the watcher. First of all, if I was Derek I would have just placed a pillow over her face and applied pressure. My whole life has been falling apart and you think it is a great time to confess? I don’t think so.
Yet, she continues on saying she purchased 657 Boulevard and loved it so much that she even signed up for the country club. She ended up having to sell the home to Maria & Derek Brannock. This is so far out because if there was a black woman that owned that home and was a member of the country club everyone in the neighborhood would still be talking about it.
There was one bit where she explains that the John Graff murder photos were taken from a case in Colorado which is a nod to the true story. John Graff (John List) hid in Denver, Colorado as the nation searched for him. I did like that.
I am glad that this character isn’t real.
Karen Calhoun — The real estate agent
We love any screen time that Jennifer Coolidge gets, but let’s be honest. She normally just plays a different version of herself and that’s exactly what she did in this series.
She was desperate, fun, and funny, but teetering over the line of crude. Her character was obsessed with listing 657 Boulevard. It was like there were no other homes in that area that could be sold.
Karen was the perfect name for this character though. Especially how she was always happy to tell Nora what she needed to do specifically when it came to sex. Nora needed to have sex daily or they weren’t going to make it.
Ms. Calhoun made it clear that she loves cock. She left her last husband because his junk wouldn’t work and she was so upset that she took his house leaving him financially ruined. She dates the police captain for a bit and shames him for not being able to get it up.
At the end of the series, she is the new homeowner of 657 Boulevard, but not for very long when she receives one of those infamous letters. This time the letter not being in the mailbox, but awaiting in the dumbwaiter for her to open. This scene was hilarious as she ends up sprinting out of the house and running down the middle of the street.
The Watcher Season 2 Announced!
The Watcher has been green-lit for a season 2! What are your theories? Do you think that the new season will follow the families that moved into 657 Boulevard after the Brannocks? Will it be the continuation of the Brannocks watching over the home and essentially becoming “The Watcher” that they themselves were originally freaked out about?
What Are Your Thoughts?
Have you seen the show? What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment below. If commenting on blogs aren’t your thing you can send me a message via my contact form or feel free to reach out on Twitter, Instagram, or even Vero.
1 comment
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this,
like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you
could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but
instead of that, this is fantastic blog. A fantastic read.
I’ll definitely be back.