The Watcher House

Hi, I'm Holly and I'm Hailey. Welcome to Mountain Mysteries Tales from Appalachia. Well hello there. Hello Patreon.

Is it me this week? It is. Wow. Yeah, I did the fun game.

You did. Yeah, plus Hailey's all heartlesson. Well, listen, I kind of forgot that it was me. So I'm looking for notes here.

She is all kinds of wild tonight. Yeah. We are going without our mic stands. We sure are.

And we took off the filters. Yeah. So if we sound unfiltered, this is us. This is why.

Rawr. There it is. Okay. All righty.

I don't have my notes. Excellent. Thanks. All right.

We're going to talk about a case that I'm very interested in. It's the Watcher House. Do you know about this? I feel you've heard of it before.

Yeah. So this is a six bedroom house that is in Westfield, New Jersey. It has four bathrooms and it's more than 3,800 square feet and it sits on almost half a girl land. Well, it's really nice.

It's in a good school district. It's less than 28 miles from Manhattan. And it's just like this gorgeous family home. It's very pretty.

So I mean, anybody would be like, oh, yeah, I want that. Yeah. It's Dutch Colonial. Yeah.

So pretty well. I like that you really don't know what that is. So you just kind of leave it there. Yeah, I don't have clue what that means.

So they, this family, the Baratas family, they bought it about 10 years ago. And they were like, this is amazing. Yeah. So Derek brought us and his wife, Maria, he was an insurance executive.

So he like bought this house was really excited to move in. So in 2014, they had three young children and they decided to buy this dream house for $1.35 million pocket change. Absolutely. Well, for me.

Yeah, you too. I know. Yeah, that's because public education pays so well. I mean, that is it dropping the bucket.

Yeah. Absolutely. So they, this was actually in Maria's hometown. So she'd grown up in this town.

So they moved in, their furniture, they themselves didn't move in, but they moved in the furniture because they were going to get everything done and ready before they moved. Yes. So moved in the furniture and started doing these like really extensive reservation renovations, not reservations for innovations. Well, they probably have to take reservations.

So start doing these renovations and are like, this is going to be great. But before they were able to move in, everything kind of took a weird turn. So just days after closing, Mr. Bratus found a white envelope addressed to quote the new owner in the family mailbox.

So he opens it up and there's a letter inside and it says, quote, how did you end up here? Did 657 Boulevard call to you with its force within? What the hell? Yeah.

So weird. It also said that the home had quote, been the subject of my family for decades now. And as it approaches, it's 110th birthday. I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming.

My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. 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. Okay. So first I'm going to put a call into the police.

Yeah. That's scary AF and that sounds very threatening. Yeah, it's not great. But then that also begs the question, what the F happened to this house?

Right. What? Yeah, so super weird. Yeah.

It's this letter. It's probably like WTF. Does he take it seriously? You know, I think he just kind of thought it was weird.

At first and it's like, I don't really know what I would think. Hayley instantly. Yeah. I know your handwriting is like a serial killer.

That's true. Yeah. I would think me as well. I got a letter.

It's a fair point. Okay. So in total, he got three letters. The brothers have said the writer mentioned specifics that they really only could have known if they been able to like see and hear, you know, pretty close to the house.

Is it like wired or something? I can find out listening devices. So in the, here's some more quotes from the letters. It says, quote, I see you have already flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, bad move. You don't want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy. The writer also said, quote, you have children. I have seen them.

So far, I think there are three that I've counted and that like in a more threatening tone. It said, quote, do you need to fill the house with a young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family?

Or was it agreed to bring me your children? Once I know their names, I will call for them and draw them close to me. And what? Okay.

Yeah. So that's when I get the hell out of there. Yeah. Oh my God.

Oh, this person's creepy as hell. Yeah. Okay. So the writer did also like refer to the children, quote, by birth order and by their nicknames.

So like a new everything about them. Geez. Yeah. So Mr.

Bratus said that he was, you know, he was a depressed wreck. And he and his wife were attempting to figure out what to do. And you know, their main goal, obviously, was to avoid putting the kids in harm's way. So they still haven't moved into this house.

And now they have this house that has a weird like letter writer attached to it. And then what the hell do we do? We just spent one like over a million dollars on this house. Yeah.

Like what do we do? So sell it. Yeah. There's more letters or not letters, but like more things that are said in the letters.

So I'll continue to read them. Quote, it has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets that hold yet? Will the young blood play in the basement?

Or are they too afraid to go down there alone? I would be very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs, you could never hear them scream.

Will they sleep in the attic? Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street? I'll know as soon as you move in.

It will help me know who is in each bedroom. Then I can plan better. All the windows and doors and 67 boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Who am I?

I'm the watcher and have been in control of 67 boulevard for the better part of two decades now. The woods family turned it over to you. It was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to. I passed by many times a day.

67 boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are two broadest family. Welcome to the product of your greed. Breed is what brought the past three families to 67 boulevard and now it has brought you to me.

Okay. I don't like any of this. This creeps the hell out of me. Okay.

And like, obviously this is a real person. Yeah, like a ghost. But what is this person to range? Like what is happening?

It's super weird. So obviously they're like, did you send letters to these other families? Like what's going on? So they asked the previous owners whether they had gotten letters and the woods have said that they'd only received one in 23 years of occupying the house and it had come in the mail just before they moved down.

And they didn't say anything about it. Wow. Yeah. Interesting.

Yeah. So the family that was there before the woods said there had been no issues and they lived there 28 years. Margaret Davis who grew up in the house said that, you know, everything was, you know, it's a little odd. She said because there was, it was at a wonderful place for me and our family.

And they had no issues. I said it was like a Mayberry. It was a beautiful place to grow up. Had a wonderful childhood.

There was nothing when we lived there. Absolutely nothing. None of this makes sense. None of it makes sense.

Is there a reason like this guy is an insurance executive area? Is there, is he known? Like, would they be targeted because of what he did or? Yeah, I don't know.

It doesn't make sense. So, yeah. So the process is they thought maybe that they, you know, it could have been this a neighbor. So obviously the police are contacted.

And they thought maybe it was this neighbor, Michael Langford. But they denied being involved at all and were cleared from being involved. So, you know, there's all kinds of just weirdness about this. I would like put cameras out like who's driving by all the time?

Like is it the same car? Is it the same, you know, to try and figure out what this is? Yeah. So they actually, they hired a private investigator who would stake out the neighborhood and bring background checks.

On people who didn't find anything, they even enlisted the services of like two former FBI agents, agents. So, one of them recognized several like old fashioned ticks in the letter that pointed to an older writer. The envelope was addressed to, it said, M slash M brought us. And, you know, everything, like they would talk about the weather in them.

And it was just really weird. It was a weird, weird letter. Was there anything, you know, like, whoo, feels like rain. Like, you know, it sounded like they were a threatic.

No, it was, they said it was sunny and cool for summer day. It was warm and humid. I'm going to put my teeth in. Yeah, maybe and come kill you.

Like, I, this is strange. Right. It's just, it's weird. Yeah, there's not, there wasn't a whole, but like, what do you do?

There's not a whole lot to be done. Okay. They said my father in the 60s was a watcher. And then in the 20s, my grandfather was a watcher.

Again, that does tell us that this individual's older doing the math. So who lived in this house? Like, what is, is it haunted? Like what, what happened?

Was there a murder? Right. And it's like one of those things that they've looked through, like nothing's happened in this house. This is weird.

It's super weird. So they, the family decided then that they were going to not move in to the house yet. They were going to rent it out. So they did, they rented it to, I think, 10 and stayed there.

And another letter arrived in 2017 listing various tragedies that could be followed them, such as a car accident, fire, or sudden death of a pet or loved one. Oh my God. Yeah. So wow.

Yeah. So this did end up turning into like this big illegal battle. So the broadest is filed to suit against the woods family and two companies involved in the sale alleging information about the watcher had initially been withheld. The woods is filed at counterclaim alleged the new owners were trying to smear the reputation in the media.

All these claims were thrown out of court in 2019. So the story, you know, spread obviously like crazy and people have, you know, all kinds of theories. So some people theorized that it was a jealous buyer who'd lost out while bidding on the house. This maybe it was, you know, a realtor or a prankster.

But the most creepy, but at least plausible would be that someone who'd been living like in the walls is kind of like one of the theories that there was, you know, because some of these older houses have like my house is like this, it's plaster walls. Right. So there's a lot of space in between, right, the walls is not well insulated. So like somebody could be living in the walls is kind of the theory.

Or even the attic or some of these pieces that they mentioned not going to super weird. Yeah. So there was also some intention on the broadest is themselves. So a lot of people actually suspect that the letters could have been some kind of inside job.

Several locals theorized that they had buyers remorse. And this could have been like a wild plan to recoup some expenses, which is kind of crazy. I mean, that's a pretty big leap. I don't know.

That's pretty significant to do to just like sell your house. I don't know. So they, these theories, you know, kind of reminded people of one of, you know, the most interesting haunted cases in modern history, which is actually in another Dutch colonial house just 60 miles east centered on a crime that happened exactly 40 years earlier, the Amityville Horror House, which rose to attention when Ronald Defeo Jr. killed his entire family on Long Island.

There were, you know, occupants that alleged paranormal activity and hauntings. And it, you know, came out with a ton of documentaries and films along with rumors that it might have all been made up for profit and movie rights. So the broadest family face similar scrutiny, particularly in Westfield with a Netflix show fittingly dubbed The Watcher, which premiered on October 13th, I think this year. That would be good boogie.

Yeah. So of course, the family denies that, you know, they had anything to do with it. They eventually sold the house in 2019 and the, you know, it made major headlines. They were able to sell it, but it was at about a $400,000 loss.

Wow. Yeah. The new buyers wish to remain anonymous, but according to reports, it's also a young family that bought it. No, it's kind of crazy issues.

Yeah. Um, Derek brought us, continued to comment on the case as recently as last February, um, from this article being published, which was, you know, it's a very recent article. Um, he tweeted, mental illness is real. And so was the person who was so angry that we bought 657, they thought it would be a good idea to threaten a five year old baby.

So it's just weird. This is very strange. Yeah. Clearly that this never happened until he moved in.

Right. And like, haven't heard about it since then. No. Um, yeah, it's, it's just so strange, but like, none of, nothing else has ever happened.

But yeah, that's the story, kind of the loose story of the Watcher House. You know, I, I would love to know, I know a very small bit about the couple who lived here before me and in doing some research, I know about the older couple who lived here before that. Right. But I would love to know like, who are these people?

Like, what was their life story? You know, what people raised kids here. Like, I know that the couple before were divorcing and they have a son. So I know they're raising us on here.

So I know those things, but like, I don't know, it would just be neat to kind of know some of the histories. Like, I would love to see pictures of what my house looked like when it was first built. Like what it looked like to have a carpet. Did it, you know, what it, I don't know.

Yeah. Um, there's been two family, like two very large families that lived in my house before me could easily fit two large families. Yeah. Big house.

Yeah. Um, one was a Baptist family. It was actually the people who still own the house now. Um, good family friends of ours.

They had like eight kids. And then the other was like a Mormon family and they had 10 kids. And then, you know, you're going to have at least at least six. My, whatever you want to call him, partner, boyfriend.

I don't know. So they make another boyfriend sounds very juvenile. It does. Um, partner.

So we'll go with like partner. Yeah. Um, he's a very large man. In height.

And height. Yeah. He's not big. No, he's just really tall.

Yeah. And I'm also pretty tall. You are. So I fear that our child will be a large baby.

I think your child will be tall and with big feet and like long limbs. Yeah, long limbs. They both have pretty long limbs. Yeah.

His wingspan is ridiculous. I know. He showed me. Yeah.

His wingspan. Just to clarify what I saw was a wingspan. I did not see anything else. Just so you know, but yes, you will have large children.

And if you have multiple, that's a lot of big kids. Yeah. Like like they're all just touching the ceiling. I mean, there's a lot of wear and tear.

It really is. Yeah. It's a lot of like big and tall shopping as well. That's expensive.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you just went to get a suit for a wedding. He's going to be in any text me today and said the late, the suit lady told me I'm shaped like a Dorito.

First of all, that's so unkind to say if you're trying to sell something to someone. I thought it was hilarious. But shape like Dorito, which means you're kind of triangle shaped. I think he kind of is.

Huh, because he's got really broad shoulders, but he's got like a small waist. He's pretty thin. He was in. Yeah.

Okay. So, so for like a jacket. Yeah, he's triangle shaped. Can I call him Dorito?

Sure. That's his new nickname. Okay. Please tell him that.

I will. So next time I see him. Sure. I'll call him Dorito.

And that'll be the thing now. Yeah. Like it's our thing. I feel special.

Good. Like I have like, you know, I want him to come up with the name for me. Not not, you know, derogatory. Gotcha.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Well, I was on phone with him earlier, and then he told his friend that I called him the N word and I said, no, I did not. That's so rude.

And I said, Holly said that was rude. And he then said her friend also called me the N word. And I was like, no, she did not. And his friend in the background said good.

Oh my God. Yeah. He's such a dang dog. I called him the D word.

Yeah. And not do your bag. Right. Dorito.

Dorito. Call him a Dorito. Call him a Dorito. And if he doesn't care for that, then bring it on.

Bring it. Bring it Dorito. Bring it. Yeah.

I thought so. You know what I love? Cool ranch Doritos. Those are my favorite.

Big fan. I like the cheese ones as well. I like those, but I really love cool ranch Doritos. Like I could just pound those.

Those are great. Indeed. Well, what are we doing? Oh, we're getting off of here.

Listen, y'all, you pay for this kind of content. It's been fun. That was a good story though. It's cool.

It's hell. Thanks. I'd love to know what truly happened. Me too.

There's another, you know, right? We could go back and figure out what happened. That'd be great. Well, y'all, we'll see you next month.

Yeah. Bye.