Netflix ‘The Watcher': real aesthetic versus show's New Jersey mansion
The home at 657 Boulevard in the small suburban town of Westfield, New Jersey was built in 1905
October 16, 2022
Netflix's The Watcher is created by Ryan Murphy, who is known for American Horror Story and the recently released show on Netflix, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
The story revolves around a New Jersey mansion that was bought by Derek and Maria Broaddus in June 2014 for nearly $1.4 million. However, their excitement for moving into a new home quickly faded when they began receiving threatening letters from ‘The Watcher.’
While the show is based on a true story, it is does exaggerate some bits for the purpose of dramatization.
The anonymous harasser claimed that the home had been a point of obsession for their family for decades, and that since their father's passing, they had been put in charge of watching over it. And so began the mystery of The Watcher’s identity. The couple had to hastily vacate their home amid the influx of terrifying mail.
The home at 657 Boulevard in the small suburban town of Westfield, New Jersey was built in 1905. The shingle-style house with Dutch Colonial features has six bedrooms and four bathrooms, spanning 3,869 square feet.
A video posted to YouTube by David Realty Group, the company that eventually sold the place for $959,000 in 2019, shows just how much the Netflix production changed the aesthetic of the home, per Entertainment Weekly.
Netflix previously unveiled a walk-through tour of the show's version of the home starring Jennifer Coolidge, who plays a real estate agent named Karen in the project.
The limited series is officially streaming on Netflix.
