Who Bought The Watcher House From The Broadduses?

In 2014, Derek and Maria Broaddus found the perfect house where they could raise their three children. The property, located at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, was built in a Dutch colonial revival style in 1905. Maria grew up in the neighborhood and the home where she used to live in was just a few blocks away. The couple purchased the property for $1.3 million and immediately began renovating to prepare for their eventual move. However, the Broaddus family would never get to live in the house.

As reported by The Cut, the Broadduses received a series of letters from an anonymous writer only known as The Watcher. In it, the sender said that their family had been watching the property for decades, and it was now their time to do so. There were no clues about the identity of the writer, and Derek and Maria alerted the authorities. Despite efforts to track down the sender of the letter, they went unidentified.

The Broadduses continued the renovation of the home, sometimes bringing their three small children with them. Just two weeks after they got the first letter, The Watcher sent another letter. The second letter was even more disturbing than the first. According to Distractify, The Watcher identified the Broaddus family by name and even let the couple know that they were being watched from their windows. Derek and Maria grew wary of their neighbors. They had no idea who The Watcher was, and they grew concerned for the safety of their children.

The house that was supposed to be their dream home became an unsafe place, and they decided not to move in and rent it out instead. That didn't stop The Watcher, however, and even the tenants received a letter. Eventually, the Broadduses decided that the best course of action to take was to sell the house, but that wasn't easy either, as reported by The Cut. The Broadduses wanted complete transparency when they sold the home, so they decided to show the letters to interested buyers. However, they backed out when they learned about the issue the house came with.

The Broadduses had already sold their former home, and they were temporarily living with Maria's mother when they put their new home on the market. According to NBC, they listed it in 2016 and then again in 2017. Derek stated that he was "a depressed wreck," and Maria started seeing a therapist to help deal with the harrowing ordeal. At first, the Broadduses listed the house for a higher price than what they paid for, as they took into consideration the renovations that were done. Later on, however, they dropped the amount just so they could finally get rid of the house.

In 2019, someone finally purchased the house. As reported by NJ, 657 Boulevard was sold for $959,360, which was a steep loss for Derek and Maria. The only information known about the new owners is their names — Andrew and Allison Carr — and so far, they have not received a letter from The Watcher (via Time). To this day, the identity of the writer still remains a mystery.