NJ 'Watcher House' Sells After Family Received Chilling Letters About Property For Years

After nearly five years of being on the market, the owners of a New Jersey home in the affluent neighborhood of Westfield have finally been able to sell their residence often referred to as the "watcher house."

The delay in the sale comes from the troubled history surrounding the location that has plagued multiple families for years. Due to the dark past, the prior owners, Derek and Maria Broaddus, had to take a loss of over $440,000 in order to successfully move the property last month.

According to Business Insider, the couple began receiving letters from someone who referred to themselves as "The Watcher" after the $1.4 million purchase was finalized in 2014. During this time, the two had begun doing renovations on the home while they lived at their old place.

The letters, which were sent by someone who claimed to be keeping an eye on the property, got worse over time in terms of content. The first welcomed the family to the neighborhood but said that the house had "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."

The sender then went on to explain that their grandfather had watched it in the 1920s, their father had in the 1960s, and now the responsibility fell to the person who sent the letter.

"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," one of them read.

Additionally, the letters would refer to the couple's three children, asking, "Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them to me." The sender also asked which rooms the children would use to play in, noting that the couple would "never hear the children scream" from the basement.

"Welcome my friends, welcome. Let the party begin," the first one concluded, followed by a typed cursive signature calling themselves "The Watcher," reports The Cut.

The case, which was unsuccessfully investigated by the Westfield police and Union County prosecutor's office, prompted the couple to place the home on the market six months after the first letter. Initially, they listed it for more than they had paid since they had completed the renovations, but they eventually had to lower the price.

They also filed a complaint against the previous owners, John and Andrea Woods, in June 2015, saying that they too had received a letter from "The Watcher," but the filing was dismissed in 2017, according to NJ.com.

The new owners even attempted to have it torn down, but the sender of the letters threatened revenge if that were to happen.

"Maybe a car accident. Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you feel sick day after day after day after day after day," read a follow-up note.

The home, which is a 1905 Dutch colonial with six bedrooms, per Bloomberg, finally sold to new owners. It remains to be seen if they too will begin to receive letters at some point.

According to Deadline, in 2018, Netflix beat out six studios in order to win the rights to the story. No word yet on when or how the story will enter development.