110-Year-Old Yonkers Tudor Mansion Cameo In Netflix's 'The Watcher'
The home built in 1912, known as "Alta Manor," in the historic Park Hills section of the city, is a stand-in for a NJ estate.
By Jeff Edwards,Patch Staff
YONKERS, NY — Viewers of Netflix's "The Watcher" were again asked to suspend their disbelief and imagine that some of the Hudson Valley's best-known and most historic architecture instead exists in the so-called Garden State.
The gorgeous Tudor mansion in Episode 6 of Netflix's "The Watcher" was just the latest example.
We already asked last month if you watched "The Watcher" and wondered why the house at the center of the creepy story or the bread aisle in the dramatic grocery store scene looked so familiar. You probably know by now about the Rye house that starred in "The Watcher" and that the intense grocery store showdown in which our heroes followed a trail of breadcrumb canisters in the search for the suspect was shot in the Larchmont DeCicco's. It turns out another key location in Episode 6 was at a historic Yonkers mansion known as "Alta Manor."
The limited series, "The Watcher," directed by Ryan Murphy (a Westchester County resident himself), and starring Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Mia Farrow, and Jennifer Coolidge, follows married couple Dean and Nora Brannock who move into their dream home in the suburbs with their children. But soon after moving in, they begin to realize some peculiar things going on in their new neighborhood. The family starts receiving disturbing letters from a mysterious someone called "The Watcher" who says it is their duty to "watch over" the house and begins terrorizing the family. The seven-part series is inspired by real-life events, in Westfield, New Jersey.
Filming on the show actually took place across New York, from September 2021 - March 2022, primarily in Westchester County.
According to Dirt, the producers of the show chose the Yonkers mansion in the historic Park Hills section to stand in for a Westfield, New Jersey house that the suspected "Watcher" from the recently aired supermarket scene had been obsessed with his whole life.
While investigating the potential "Watcher" suspect, the Brannocks visit the mansion and admire the "ornamental work on the plaster." In a flashback scene, the suspect in his youth admired the beautiful "newel posts" and declared, with Hannibal Lecter-esque delivery, "These coffered walls are just delicious!"
The property was originally built in 1912 for Captain Robert Boettger, a prominent Yonkers citizen and founder of United Piece Dye Works, which was at the time the country's most prominent piece dye company.
According to property records, after being put on the market in February 2020 for $2.25 million, the 10-bedroom, 8-bathroom, 12,000-square-foot property sold for $1.8 million in 2021.
Under new ownership, the property is now promoted as a film location and has its own filming website.
The home is situated on 0.53 acres and is located in the historic Park Hills area of Yonkers. The grand, turn-of-the-century, 3-story Tudor mansion with Hudson River views, was designed by Delhi and Chamberlin. According to Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which listed the property before its 2021 sale, the home boasts a total of 12,000 square feet on a manicured half-acre with a heated in-ground pool, terraces, covered patios, a security gate, and a Porte Cochere circular driveway. All original details were retained, including a formal receiving hall, a grand staircase with wood-carved newel posts and balusters, decorative lead glass windows, wood-beamed ceilings, 10 fireplaces, and wide plank floors. The estate has also been modernized for comfort. Updates include HVAC, a renovated gourmet kitchen, updated bathrooms, and 400-amp electricity. A fully, and partially finished basement has a walkout to a covered patio.
The real-life saga of "The Watcher," began in 2014 when Derek and Maria Broaddus purchased a 1905 Dutch colonial located in Westfield, NJ for $1.3 million, hoping to raise their family there.
However, before they even moved in, an anonymous letter writer began sending threatening letters with disturbing references to their three children.
The family said they were too scared to move into the six-bedroom house due to the threats the letters contained, such as "allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house" and referring to the children as "young blood."
To this day, no one knows the identity of the real-life letter writer who sent the horrifying messages to the family.
The Broaddus family repeatedly tried to unsuccessfully sell the home and was forced to eventually drop the price. In Aug. of 2019, the home was finally sold for $959K to another couple, Andrew and Allison Carr.
The Broaddus couple also tried to sue the previous owners of the home in 2016, claiming they knew of "The Watcher's" threatening letters but did not disclose any information while selling the home. A Superior Court judge eventually dismissed the lawsuit in 2017.