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| Kellie's Castle |
At its glory.....
The incomplete rear section.....
| Inside the castle.... |
| worker's clinic |
| corridor 1 |
| corridor 2 |
| spiral staircase 1 |
| spiral staircase 2 |
| Roof top party area .... |
| Wine Cellar One of the underground tunnels can be accessed from the cellar... |
" William Kellie Smith is still spoken about although the man who bore the name has long since passed away. He is most
remembered for the beautifully unique 'castle', which seems rather out of place, in his rubber plantation. William Kellie Smith
arrived in Malaya from Scotland in the late nineteenth century. He used the revenue he generated from his partnership with
one Alma Baker , who had secured a contact to build roads in South Perak, to buy forest land to be converted for rubber
planting. He came from a farming family and used his experience and sharp business acumen to build his venture into very
profitable one. He soon became a multi millionaire. His rubber plantation was named Kinta Kellas after his family's Eater Kellas
estates in Scotland. Sometime in 1909/1910, Kellie Smith began to build his house within the rubber plantation. The design
displayed many Islamic architectural features, much like those found in buildings in Kuala Lumpur at that time. The vast
grounds were beautifully landscaped with decorative plants as well as fruit orchards. It even had a swell-stocked fishing pond.
It is said that he employed 40 people to tend the grounds.
It is unclear whether it was because of his growing wealth, an expanding family or just his desire to live in a palace of sorts
befitting his status as a wealthy man that prompted him to build a second house in the vicinity of the earlier and which was
connected with a covered walkway. Again the second house featured Islamic architecture with domed shaped windows, 14
rooms and a tall tower with a lift and a moat around it. The tower was tall enough to command a panoramic view of Ipoh
town. If it had been completed, the house would have been the first building in Malaysia that would have had the first
imported lift. A large wine cellar was included under the ground floor.
William Kellie Smith imported skilled artisans and construction workers from India to work on his project. However, the
construction of the house was delayed due to an epidemic that hit the workers. To appease the workers, he built a temple
nearby with a statue of his likeness placed in it. Three tunnels were built leading out of the house, with one of them leading
to the Hindu temple.
The construction of the house was once again halted, when in 1926, William Kellie Smith died suddenly in Lisbon. His remains
were interred at a British cemetery there. It is said that he succumbed to pneumonia while on his way to take delivery of the
lift he had ordered for his 'castle'. Other sources claim that his wife Agnes, tired of living in such a remote place surrounded
by hundred of acres of rubber plantations, had returned to her home country with their son and that he was on his way to
meet them. Yet another rumour claims that he was on his way to Lisbon to negotiate a concession in Portuguese East Timor.
However, all these stories have remained just that and there is no way to verify any of these.
Agnes Smith later relinquished all her interest in Kinta Kellas Estates and the plantations were managed by several local
companies. The unfinished 'castle' was abandoned, to be taken over by the elements with tress and vines thriving in the gaps
in the construction until the Department of Museum and Antiquities took steps to restore the building.
'Kellie Castle' has been restored to the condition it was when it was abandoned, unfinished and as though it is waiting for its
master to return to complete what he had begun. " 17
remembered for the beautifully unique 'castle', which seems rather out of place, in his rubber plantation. William Kellie Smith
arrived in Malaya from Scotland in the late nineteenth century. He used the revenue he generated from his partnership with
one Alma Baker , who had secured a contact to build roads in South Perak, to buy forest land to be converted for rubber
planting. He came from a farming family and used his experience and sharp business acumen to build his venture into very
profitable one. He soon became a multi millionaire. His rubber plantation was named Kinta Kellas after his family's Eater Kellas
estates in Scotland. Sometime in 1909/1910, Kellie Smith began to build his house within the rubber plantation. The design
displayed many Islamic architectural features, much like those found in buildings in Kuala Lumpur at that time. The vast
grounds were beautifully landscaped with decorative plants as well as fruit orchards. It even had a swell-stocked fishing pond.
It is said that he employed 40 people to tend the grounds.
It is unclear whether it was because of his growing wealth, an expanding family or just his desire to live in a palace of sorts
befitting his status as a wealthy man that prompted him to build a second house in the vicinity of the earlier and which was
connected with a covered walkway. Again the second house featured Islamic architecture with domed shaped windows, 14
rooms and a tall tower with a lift and a moat around it. The tower was tall enough to command a panoramic view of Ipoh
town. If it had been completed, the house would have been the first building in Malaysia that would have had the first
imported lift. A large wine cellar was included under the ground floor.
William Kellie Smith imported skilled artisans and construction workers from India to work on his project. However, the
construction of the house was delayed due to an epidemic that hit the workers. To appease the workers, he built a temple
nearby with a statue of his likeness placed in it. Three tunnels were built leading out of the house, with one of them leading
to the Hindu temple.
The construction of the house was once again halted, when in 1926, William Kellie Smith died suddenly in Lisbon. His remains
were interred at a British cemetery there. It is said that he succumbed to pneumonia while on his way to take delivery of the
lift he had ordered for his 'castle'. Other sources claim that his wife Agnes, tired of living in such a remote place surrounded
by hundred of acres of rubber plantations, had returned to her home country with their son and that he was on his way to
meet them. Yet another rumour claims that he was on his way to Lisbon to negotiate a concession in Portuguese East Timor.
However, all these stories have remained just that and there is no way to verify any of these.
Agnes Smith later relinquished all her interest in Kinta Kellas Estates and the plantations were managed by several local
companies. The unfinished 'castle' was abandoned, to be taken over by the elements with tress and vines thriving in the gaps
in the construction until the Department of Museum and Antiquities took steps to restore the building.
'Kellie Castle' has been restored to the condition it was when it was abandoned, unfinished and as though it is waiting for its
master to return to complete what he had begun. " 17
| one of the 14 rooms.... |
Ventilation hole for the underground
tunnel heading towards the Hindu temple...
tunnel heading towards the Hindu temple...