657 Boulevard: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Real-Life Home in ‘The Watcher’ (2024)

FAQs

Are there really tunnels under The Watcher house? ›

They also theorise that a strange neighbour, Jasper – who they'd been horrified to discover hiding in their house – could have been using the tunnel to enter the home. In real life, there is no tunnel underneath the property, and the Broaddus family never discovered a neighbour who had secretly entered their home.

Who lives in The Watcher house now? After many attempts to sell the home, which were drawn out over several years, the Broadduses finally did so on July 1, 2019. They sold the home to Andrew and Allison Carr for $959,000. The Broadduses originally closed on the home in June of 2014 for $1,355,657.

While The Watcher is certainly inspired by the true story, which was first depicted in a 2018 New York Magazine article, Ryan Murphy has exercised his creative licence with numerous details and attempted to protect the real-life family from any unwanted attention by altering certain facts - such as their names.

The crime happened in November 1971, when Westfield resident John List killed his wife, mother, and three children before going into hiding (via ABC News). The series takes creative liberties with its depiction of the actual home's layout from The Watcher true story.

And there were neighbors who watched 657 Boulevard from lawn chairs. Real estate agent Karen is a fictionalization for the "The Watcher" — but next door neighbors Mitch (Richard Kind) and Mo (Margo Martindale), who watch the house from lawn chairs, are likely inspired by a detail from the New York Magazine story.

The Netflix show is much more violent than the real story.

The murder of the Brannock family ferret? Never happened.

In July 2019, the Broaddus family sold 657 Boulevard at a $400,000 loss. There have been no reports by the new inhabitants of receiving any letters and, today, The Watcher's identity remains unknown. The Watcher is streaming on Netflix now.

As for where the family is now? They still live near the house. Though they didn't ever move into the house on 657 Boulevard, the Broaddus family still lives in Westfield, per The Cut. Westfield is a town just under an hour away from New York.

After buying a home in Westfield, New Jersey, in 2014, they began receiving letters from an anonymous figure who signed himself "The Watcher." At least four letters were sent in a year-and-a-half span.

How does the series differ from real life? While based on a true story, The Watcher fictionalizes some elements of the story – namely, the Broaddus family never moved into 657 Boulevard, whereas the fictional Brannocks take up residence there.

Is The Watcher drinking blood real? ›

No one drank the blood of children

This account appears to be pure fiction: By all accounts, such an event was never witnessed by anyone in the Broaddus family or any past residents of 657 Boulevard. (Later in the series, it is suggested the character Andrew is a pathological liar.)

John Graff is loosely based on murderer John List. While the character isn't real, Graff's crimes are actually based on those of a real person named John List, who was an accountant in New Jersey. Unfortunately, John List engaged in similarly terrifying crimes—and he also lived in Westfield.

The other possibility is that Dean and Nora's Watcher was always John Graff, and that he got some semblance of assistance from, most likely, Pearl. We saw Graff in the tunnels beneath 657, running and meeting up with Pearl after the Brannocks discovered the tunnel passageways beneath their house.

The current owners of the house at 657 Boulevard in Westfied, N.J. — subject of the Netflix hit, “The Watcher” — have reportedly never received creepy correspondence like the previous owners. But they're still living a nightmare.

In order to respect their privacy and not disrupt the current owners too much, the house that has actually been used to film the series is located at 1 Warriston Lane in the town of Rye in the state of New York.

However, in all actuality, the previous owners received only one letter in the two decades they lived in the home, and it was sent just prior to them moving out. The new owners of the house haven't gotten any creepy letters, per The Cut. Hopefully, it stays that way….

Unlike the Brannock family in The Watcher series, the Broaddus family never ultimately moved into 657 Boulevard, so fearful were they of harm to their children. No one was ever hurt, but The Watcher was never caught.