Margaret Davis spent 26 years of her life, including her childhood, in the New Jersey home that has inspired the Netflix series “The Watcher." She says her experience in the home was very different than what's being depicted.
A woman raised in the home that inspired the Netflix series “The Watcher” said the 26 years she spent there were so idyllic that she wanted to return to the house for the next chapter of her life.
“I can't imagine a more wonderful place to grow up,” Margaret Davis told Inside Edition. “We had fabulous neighbors, fabulous friends, it was a walk to school, a walk to the train. My husband and I tried to move back there.”
“The Watcher,” starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, tells the story of homeowners who say they were driven out of their dream home by a stalker called “The Watcher” who wrote chilling letters.
It's based on the terrifying experience of Derek and Maria Broaddus, who bought the house in Westfield, New Jersey, in June 2014 for $1.3 million. Within days, they said they received the first of a series of letters from someone identifying himself as “The Watcher.” That person claimed his family had been stalking the house for decades and in ensuing letters, seemingly threatened the couple and asked if they had “young blood,” which was a reference to children. The Broadduses, who have children, did not move into the home.
Margaret Davis, who spoke to Inside Edition in 2015, said the experiences the Broaddus family were having were “hard to believe because my experience there was so different.”
Ultimately Derek and Maria Broaddus never moved into the home that inspired the Netflix series. They said the letters scared away prospective buyers and though they wanted to demolish the home and build two new houses on the property, that plan was rejected by the planning board, NJ Advance Media reported. The Broadduses ultimately sold the home in 2019 at a $400,000 loss.
As of Tuesday, the house that was the target of the real watcher had crime scene tape around the property as well as “no trespassing” signs posted as the Netflix series had attracted many curious onlookers. A police car was also seen periodically stopping by.
