Kent couple face harassment after sacking builder from listed cottage renovation
Christian Magg and Greg Taylor, who met at Munich's Oktoberfest fourteen years ago, purchased a Grade II listed Tudor cottage in Chilham, Kent for £600,000 in 2019 with dreams of an extensive, carefully considered restoration. The couple planned an ambitious renovation with a budget approximately three times the purchase price, designed to transform the sixteenth-century property whilst respecting its heritage status. However, this dream project became a nightmare when they hired local builder James Fuller, initially a seemingly reliable contractor who had performed acceptably on a smaller garage renovation.
Fuller's deterioration from competent tradesman to aggressive antagonist led to months of harassment after the couple dismissed him from the project. His behaviour escalated dramatically: he climbed onto the cottage roof and threw tiles to the ground, attempted to steal the couple's dog, and spread sexually explicit false accusations about them throughout their picturesque village. The restoration plan had been extraordinarily ambitious, featuring a basement, modern glass extension, repositioned attic space for higher ceilings, specialist materials including Vatican-inspired mosaics, and high-tech fixtures, representing the kind of meticulous historical renovation typically seen on television property programmes.
- Builder becomes abusive after couple dismisses him from £2 million Kent cottage project.
- Harassment escalates to roof damage, dognapping attempt and false accusations spread through village.
- Sixteenth-century Tudor home dream becomes months-long nightmare with dismissed builder terrorising owners.
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Christian Magg and Greg Taylor bought a Grade II listed Tudor cottage in Chilham, Kent in 2019 with plans for an extensive restoration. The sixteenth-century property inspired an ambitious renovation budget of approximately £2 million, including modern additions like a basement and glass extension whilst preserving its heritage character.
The couple hired local builder James Fuller, who had previously completed smaller work at the property. After they dismissed him from the project, his behaviour changed dramatically. What followed was a campaign of harassment involving roof tile throwing, attempted theft of their dog, and spreading of false sexual accusations about them in their village.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “The £2million Hansel and Gretel cottage renovation dream that became a nightmare: Millionaire couple sacked cowboy builder so he threw tiles off their heritage roof, tried to steal their dog and spread sex slurs around their sleepy Kent village”.