Kellie's Castle

William Kellie Smith, a Scottish planter who made money in rubber and tin, began this house in the 1910s as a second and grander home beside his estate on the Kinta River. It mixes Scottish baronial massing with Mughal and south Indian detail: horseshoe arches, a square tower, red brick and stone shipped from India along with the labourers who cut it. Work stopped when Smith died abroad in 1926, and the shell was left roofless in places and never fitted out. The rooms are bare, staircases lead to open floors, and a domed rooftop tower gives a view over the rubber and oil palm around it. A Hindu temple built for the estate workers stands a short distance up the road.

History

William Kellie-Smith, born in Scotland in 1870, came to Malaya as a civil engineer in 1890 and made his fortune clearing forest and planting, naming his estate Kinta Kellas after his home farm. Work on Kellas House began in 1910, and after the birth of his son in 1915 he planned a great castle with Moorish, Indo-Saracenic and Roman elements (Wikipedia, Kellie's Castle).

What you'll find

• The brick and stone facade - horseshoe arches and south Indian stonework on a baronial frame.
• The unfinished interior - bare rooms, open floors and stairs that stop at nothing.
• The rooftop tower - the domed lookout over the surrounding plantations.
• The cellars - the low vaulted spaces running under the main block.

When to go

Mornings are cooler and quieter. The building is largely unroofed, so rain sends everyone down into the cellars at once. Weekends bring family groups and wedding photographers, who occupy the best arches early. An hour is enough unless you are photographing seriously. The last stretch of road is rural, so allow time when driving from Ipoh.

What to expect

It is a shell, with nothing furnished and only a few interpretation panels, so the visit is short and some people feel the ticket is steep for it. The building is regularly used for wedding and fashion shoots, which can block the best rooms. Ghost stories drive most of the local marketing and the reality is a quiet ruin in a field. Reaching it without a car is awkward.

Nearby

Batu Gajah, the Kinta valley cave temples and Ipoh old town are all within half an hour.

Key facts