The Haunting Of A Dream House By Reeves Wiedeman (2024)

FAQs

Did they ever find out who The Watcher was? ›

As in the show's ending, 'The Watcher' never got caught and the mystery never was solved. Over the course of several years, police, investigators and the FBI studied the case, examining handwriting in the letters, analyzing DNA evidence and interviewing neighbors in an attempt to connect the messages to an individual.

The home is now occupied

After five years of ownership, and four and a half years after they first listed it for sale, the Broadduses were able to offload the home to a young family in 2019.

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.

To their disappointment, even after meticulous investigation, The Watcher's real identity remained a mystery.

In real life, List had no connection to 657 Boulevard, but he owned a mansion in Westfield and killed his wife, mother, and his three children before going on the run for nearly 18 years.

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.

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.

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….

The tunnels under the house were completely made up for the series. Again, just like the child-eating cult, the tunnels underneath 657 Boulevard were not real, and neither was the creepy room that Nora and Dean discovered among them. None of the neighbours were hiding in the house, either.

Spoiler alert: It remains unsolved. But as Netflix prepares to release a limited series based on the story, here's an update on what's gone on since 2018.

How much did the Broaddus family pay for 657 Boulevard? ›

The Broaddus family bought 657 Boulevard for $1.3 million in 2014, only to start receiving letters from The Watcher, suggesting that harm would come to their children and that he — or she — was watching their every move.

The Brannocks seen in The Watcher are based on the real life couple Derek and Maria Broaddus.

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 most obvious suspects were the Broadduses' nextdoor neighbors, The Langfords. In particular, a man named Michael Langford found himself a person of interest. According to neighbors, he lived at home with his 90-something-year-old mother Peggy, and his siblings who were all in their 60s.

Unfortunately, filming for The Watcher did not take place at the real 657 Boulevard, but did, in fact, take place in various locations across New York, including Westfield. The house seen in The Watcher is located at 1 Warriston Lane, in Rye New York revealed by The Sun.

The mystery is never solved

So, does the series ever solve the mystery? Similar to the true story, no. The identity of the Watcher is never revealed on the show, nor is it in real life.

The Watcher. The mystery appears to have been solved once and for all when cancer-stricken Theodora (Noma Dumezweni) confesses from her deathbed she was the perpetrator.

Early on in Episode 7, private eye Theodora confesses to Dean, on her deathbed, that she was The Watcher all along.

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….