Kellie's Castle, Ipoh

Kellie's Castle (sometimes also called Kellie's Folly) is a castle located in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie Smith. 

Kellie’s Castle is situated beside the Raya River (Sungai Raya), which is a small creek to the Kinta River.

Entrance Fee for Kellie's Castle.

A number of visitors increases each day especially during school holidays where parents bring their children to spend their time looking around inside the castle. About 500 to 700 visitors come to Kellie’s Castle every day during the recent school holidays.

William Kellie Smith (1870—1926) [1] was born in 1870 in Kellas, Moray Firth, Scotland. In 1890, at the age of 20, he arrived in Malaya as a civil engineer. He joined Charles Alma Baker's survey firm, who had won concessions from the state government to clear 9000 hectares of forests in Batu Gajah, Perak. With the substantial profits made from his business venture with Baker, Smith bought 1,000 acres (405 ha) of jungle land in the district of Kinta and started planting rubber trees and dabbled in the tin mining industry.
In time, he named his estate "Kinta Kellas" after his home farm "Easter Kellas". Smith went on to own the Kinta Kellas Tin Dredging Company as well. With his fortune made, he returned home to marry his Scottish sweetheart, Agnes, and brought her over to Malaya in 1903. They had a daughter named Helen the following year.

In 1915, with the birth of his son and heir Anthony, Smith started planning for a huge castle with Scottish, Moorish, and Tamilvanan Indian architecture.

To realise his dream home, Smith brought in 70 workers and imported bricks and marbles from India as well as exquisite tiles from Italy.

Originally, the castle would have boasted a 6-storey tower, an indoor tennis court, an entertainment area on the rooftop

All the bricks and marble were imported from India.

It was designed in a Moorish and Indo-Saracenic Revival style with top quality craftsmanship in mind.

The castle is very fascinating as it seems to be full of secret doors. The whole place is like a maze.

This corridor famous with the name of "ghostly corridor" where visitors claimed sometimes they can see some spirits wandering around here.

Consisting of 14 rooms, this four-storey tower include an elevator inside the Kellie’s Castle which connects the ground floor and the very top floor of the castle. Also there are the existence of two tunnels that run under the river nearby, of which one of the tunnels connect to the Hindu temple nearby the castle while the other tunnel connects the castle to the way out near the Kellie’s owned cars (garage).

Supposed to be the Malaysia's first elevator

Linen room.

Master bedroom.

Wine Cellar

Selected rooms in the castle have been refurbished with furniture to show visitors what the rooms would have been like had the construction of the castle been completed.

The rooftop is also open to visitors where they can enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding area.

A cosy restaurant across the river was also built for the guests to eat and rest.

This is the first home named as KELLA'S HOUSE. Built in 1905 where Smith stayed with his family. This house was partially destroyed during he 2nd World War.

Kellas House was so unique that it was even mentioned in the London Financier newspaper on 15 September 1911.

Tree resembled a bear

Kellie's Castle is now a popular local tourist attraction, with some believing it to be haunted.
It was used as a setting in the 1999 film Anna and the King and 2000 film Skyline Cruisers.

Mr and Mrs Smith entertaining the guest.

There are 4 underground tunnel over here, but they just found 3. The another one untill now is still a mystery.

This is one of the ventilation hole underground tunnel toward the Hindu temple

William Kellie Smith & Agnes with their Marlborough, believed was bury inside the tunnel below Kellie's Castle.

William Kellie Smith died at the age of 56 of pneumonia during a short trip to Lisbon, Portugal in 1926. William's wife was devastated and decided to move back to Scotland; construction on the castle was never completed by tamilvanan workers.In the end, Kellas House, later known as "Kellie's Folly" or "Kellie's Castle," was sold to a British company called Harrisons and Crosfield.