Kellie’s Castle
Kellie’s Castle is not exactly in Ipoh but it’s probably the one and only historical place nearby.
The castle belonged to the late William Kellie Smith. It’s located rather out of place – in his rubber plantation, in Batu Gajah along Gopeng Road.
It has 14 rooms and a tall tower, tall enough to have a panoramic view of Ipoh town. Okay that phrase is from the brochure – I was up at the highest floor and saw nothing close to Ipoh town. More like a jungle out there.
The design displayed many Islamic architectural features.
If it had been completed, the castle would have been the first building in Malaysia to have the first imported lift.
Skilled artisans and construction workers were imported from India to work on this project. However, it was delayed due to an epidemic that hit the workers.
The construction then halted in 1926 when William Kellie Smith died in Lisbon.
His wife, Agnes Smith relinquished all her interest and the plantations were managed by several local companies.
The unfinished castle was therefore abandoned.
Right behind the castle was Kellie’s first house named as “Kellas House”. It was built in 1905 where he stayed with his family, before deciding to build a castle in front.
The house was partially destroyed during the World War 2. But it’s more of a preserved wreck now.
Although Kellie’s Castle has been there over the years, much of the structure is still intact.
The amazing thing about this castle is that Kellie planned to build an indoor tennis court and a rooftop courtyard for parties. The tower’s rooftop is damn high you know – I was kinda nervous when I was up there.
Anyway, some local said that the spirits of William Kellie, or a little girl that resembles his daughter, still wanders along the corridors.
This is the so-called “haunted corridor”. Boo!
As you walk inside the castle, you’ll see signs exclaiming “No Obscene Act” and “No vandalism”. However, some visitors tend to be a little over expressive during their visit.
So yeah, may Kellie haunt bless you two, Deanna and Dennis.
75 Comments for “Kellie’s Castle”
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hey ya!! gahaha.. this kellies castle.. when i’m young my daddie sesat jalan when finding for it.. end up din go.. hahah..thanks for the info btw..the sejarah n stuff.. hahaha
yuliang on 20 September, 2009 at 12:38 AMu should add something too u know. Like putting ur URL down. Who knows, u might get blog traffics from other world.
chris on 20 September, 2009 at 12:44 AMEntah-entah Deanna and Dennis “got it on” at the castle.
William on 20 September, 2009 at 12:59 AMok, i’m gonna bring my coursemates there on monday but i’m not so sure about the direction though…hmm…
seng aik on 20 September, 2009 at 1:13 AMbeen there few years ago..
dolly on 20 September, 2009 at 1:18 AMhaha.. i saw ppl kissing there.. at some hidden corder..
hahahha.. they were HUMAN… =.=”
This is the first time viewing Kellie’s Castle! I didn’t know it is even in Ipoh! How ignorance huh! :D
tekkaus on 20 September, 2009 at 1:50 AMIf I reach there I think I’m going to write … visit my blog pls, feel free to click the ads ya > http://jejaktrend.blogspot.com
hahaha !!
eldy on 20 September, 2009 at 7:14 AMNever heard.. of this place in my life. Haha.
Must pay a visit there soon, but first thing’s first.. has anyone seen this ghost before?
Maybe others, not me. =P
Chien Teng on 20 September, 2009 at 7:51 AMLives in Ipoh, but never been to this place. =(
waikeong on 20 September, 2009 at 7:55 AMaiyoooooooo i didnt know we have this kind of castle in msia….thanks for the info and will definitely visit next time :)
manglish on 20 September, 2009 at 8:09 AMHeard of it but never been to. Really got Ghost?
Maybe?
kathy on 20 September, 2009 at 8:12 AMI’ve always hear bout Kellie’s Castle. I would love to visit the place one day.
Elaine on 20 September, 2009 at 8:59 AMCool castle !! ^^
Miss Zane on 20 September, 2009 at 9:46 AMHaunted eh ??
heard of this castle when i was younger but never been there. looks nice. =P
blurdevil on 20 September, 2009 at 9:54 AMHey, did you go to the pitch dark underground wine cellar? that’s even scarier!
Jerine on 20 September, 2009 at 10:34 AMi will be going to ipoh soon…wish i would have time to visit this castle =p
fufu on 20 September, 2009 at 11:50 AMhah, when i read “It has 14 rooms and a tall tower, tall enough to have a panoramic view of Ipoh town.” i was like.. huh?so impossible… i find many perak tourism brochures and travel guides not accurate wan… not updated sumore
~eRiC~ on 20 September, 2009 at 2:10 PMThis castle is so famous which I heard a lot about it from many of my friends.
They may feel ‘high’ for having a party on the HIGH rooftop. Haha…
Ken on 20 September, 2009 at 5:45 PMHaha!! so what about u? did u leave behind some signatures there? ;-)
KianHin on 20 September, 2009 at 6:40 PMthe roof is fixed by a production house to be used as a helicopter pad for a movie….i forgot the name of the movie, the main actor is aaron kwok
meng on 20 September, 2009 at 7:03 PMhaha..i rmb got 1 midnite i wit my frens ntg to do n too boring..all went to kellies’s castle for fun..we climbed inside cos it’s midnight(around 12.15) wen i reached there..lingered aroung inside for 1 n half hours..it’s reli exciting..XD..unfortunately..it ended with patrol police waiting for us at the entrance of the castle..haha..copied our IC numbers..then makan liao RM200~ (the ticket reli expensive)
changnam on 20 September, 2009 at 7:35 PMOHMYGOSH HOW COULD YOU NOT BLOG ABOUT THE DEER!?!?!?
Aaah, I love Kellie’s castle for the deer, seriouslyyy!
Ahha, I lived in Ipoh also, yknowww. :)
For.. hmm..
4 years.
tiffanyk. on 20 September, 2009 at 9:10 PMit’s a nice historical place..
wenn on 20 September, 2009 at 9:27 PMthe bricks look simply nice. his dotta is helen.
SJ on 20 September, 2009 at 10:21 PMHello! =D This name sounds familiar haha. I think you can find it in our primary school textbooks.
Stanley on 20 September, 2009 at 10:43 PMhi Ken, thanks for putting up the pics of Kellie castle, i never been there before.. i tot it was not open up for tourists, yes, heard that it is haunted… hahaha.. from the pics u took, it looks very clean and well taken care of…
claire on 20 September, 2009 at 11:13 PMSo you didn’t see any ghosts there? I would go there if you can confirm it’s haunted. Hehe
foongpc on 20 September, 2009 at 11:18 PMit IS haunted….
meng on 20 September, 2009 at 11:38 PMSo that’s place got haunted mou?
Tallboyz on 21 September, 2009 at 12:41 AMgo there at nite to find out and make sure bring some camera and snap some few picture. might snap “something”. mua ha ha
isleychang on 21 September, 2009 at 11:07 AMThe castle is very nice. Didn’t we had such castles back in Malaysia.
Shingo T on 21 September, 2009 at 1:28 PMNice pictures, Ken. The place sure looks cleaned up and pleasant looking. Yeah, I heard there are spirits there. In fact, all old and unoccupied buildings do have “occupants”.
Happysurfer on 21 September, 2009 at 1:54 PM“So yeah, may Kellie haunt bless you two, Deanna and Dennis.”
I love this! Hahahaha
My uncle even went there to stay for one night. Nothing happened.
My bf’s ex snap group pictures and one of it got “something” in the picture.
Xiaopei on 21 September, 2009 at 1:56 PMUik? You didn’t snap the tree picture?? With a bear look one..
No, I didn’t. Think it isn’t that relevant. =P
Xiaopei on 21 September, 2009 at 1:57 PMI didn’t know the existence of this place. It looks nice though. Did they really see William Kellie or the girl at the corridor? Wow!!! That’s interesting!!! Maybe you should capture more pictures of the corridor. Who knows? You might capture something more than an empty corridor!!!
Audrey on 21 September, 2009 at 3:21 PMwau! i find kenwooi always travel around… rich people .. xD nice picture and nice post :)
† ИICHOLAS † on 21 September, 2009 at 4:06 PMheard of the place couple of years ago from my dad… telling me stories bout the castle told by the elders…
Xeroz on 21 September, 2009 at 5:13 PMsounds spooky to me~
you got to bring me there one day!
omg can you believe that im so JAKUN?
caihong lummie on 21 September, 2009 at 5:54 PMi thought you went oversea when i saw the 1st pic!
ahaha
thanks for visitng.. love your blog because orange is my latest favorite color.. i have a hard time clicking on your site so i can follow it.. :( have a great day
karlota on 21 September, 2009 at 7:52 PMI guess Ipoh’s railway station qualifies as a historical place too…
Khengsiong on 21 September, 2009 at 9:06 PMI seen some of castle in the papers, but never pay attention to it. Will mark it inside my place to visit, if I am in Ipoh.
min dfin on 21 September, 2009 at 10:20 PMI’ve heard bout this place too but I’ve never been there eventhough I was residing in sitiawan for sooo many years! takut lah..
Merryn on 21 September, 2009 at 11:19 PMDidn’t know there’s such castle the last time I went to Ipoh :S
Fumoffu on 22 September, 2009 at 12:03 AMYo kenwooi, I’m real happy for you and all and Imma let you finish, but Bowser’s Castle is one of the most famous castle of ALL TIME!
Kanya West on 22 September, 2009 at 12:16 AMthere’ll be people who lacks attention or wanting to show their boldness esp when nobody’s ard in scribbling those words
johnny ong on 22 September, 2009 at 12:30 AMwhy didn’t you put that scary face of urs in there, hahahaha
suejane on 22 September, 2009 at 12:37 AMThat’s a lovely place and great architecture.
Pacey on 22 September, 2009 at 4:02 AMthere’s a castle?! never knew! time to explore ipoh!
renaye on 22 September, 2009 at 10:30 AMso sad. a family that had everything but then lost everything soon after. nice entry
JG on 22 September, 2009 at 11:23 AMnice pics. d place doesnt look like in Malaysia. lol
messilegend
messilegend on 22 September, 2009 at 12:58 PMLOL! I wanted to much to visit Kellie’s Castle!
Calvin Ken on 22 September, 2009 at 5:29 PMWow! I have never visited a castle before except for those seen on movies. When I drop by Malaysia in future, I may pay a visit there:)
Denesa on 22 September, 2009 at 9:07 PMI hope the authority don’t rename it to something “local”!
WilliamTing on 22 September, 2009 at 9:35 PMHi Ken, Wow! Is that Kelly’s castle? Holy Smoke!
I used to pass by, one and off stop to take a look back in the late 60′s and early 70′s…it was just covered with jungle foliage.
And snakes galore!
I used to go cut bamboo there too…..
Used to travel extensively that area, to Batu Gajah, Telok Anson, Pantai Remis, and love the udang galas there…..
used to fish there too, bring home easy more than 30 every trip.
Guess Ipoh has changed a lot now.
Uncle Lee on 22 September, 2009 at 10:19 PMMust return to check it out one day. Lee.
yup i know that it’s near ipoh..as in, which exit to turn out and all..hehe..
khaiven on 22 September, 2009 at 10:30 PMHi! Nice to meet you, online. LOL Do I know you ar? Lol It’s just some girl. Actually it’s just a few girls who’s in love with my bf. Or so I think. LOL
Mandy on 22 September, 2009 at 10:38 PMLOL @ the double D!
a@ron on 22 September, 2009 at 10:50 PMhi ken, thanks for visiting my site!! nice one you have here. :)
amy on 22 September, 2009 at 11:25 PMbeen there few years ago, nice place. Is it really haunted???
Rosse on 23 September, 2009 at 1:15 PMwow!! Feel so nice after seeing Kellie’s castle still has her charm to attract visitors there (i am half Batu Gajah people)
It isn’t in Ipoh.. It is located along the way from Gopeng to Batu Gajah.
kenwooi, did u see the ‘Bear like’ tree?
Yeah I did! =)
su on 23 September, 2009 at 3:32 PMI saw this Kellies castle in our local architectural magazine.
yoon see on 23 September, 2009 at 10:45 PMIt’s the cover shot! I love any single details of it:)
Great historical place too:)
yoon see on 23 September, 2009 at 10:45 PMI like the fourth photo the most!
yoon see on 23 September, 2009 at 10:47 PMDeclaring love in a hounted palace? *shivers*
BoeyJoey on 24 September, 2009 at 11:16 AMPhewwww, i am going to visit the castle soon. Nice photo.
ys on 25 September, 2009 at 6:17 PMLOL vandalism. haha, the corridor is creepy. it gives people the eerie feeling. eep
shuu on 27 September, 2009 at 12:36 PMHmm.. It this coincidence? Another blogger friend went to Kellie’s Castle and also to Foh San… hmm…
Now I wonder… Did you both plan this together? :o
I always wanted to visit Kellie’s Castle. I heard if you are lucky, you can still see her. Hmm..
Who knows :P lovely pictures!
ladyviral on 28 September, 2009 at 5:25 PMi shoudl go to kellie’s castle one day!
kaizar on 28 September, 2009 at 5:54 PMBeen there a few year back…
I heard it’s still haunted! :D
alan tan on 29 September, 2009 at 6:17 PMwaliao this haunted place so scary….go there once nia yerrr….when evening come is so haunted
bloggerboy on 7 November, 2009 at 10:48 PMken… who’s kelly actually?
Farenova on 7 November, 2009 at 10:49 PMHaha, i think Farenova must back to school to know who is Kelly… :)
MyLife on 7 November, 2009 at 11:59 PMso, basically… there’s nothin inside the castle ? @.@ nt scary meh ?
† ИICHOLAS † on 8 November, 2009 at 2:23 AMNice Topic, I loved it , it gave me laughter for it! ^_^
Wilfred on 11 March, 2010 at 11:47 PMmaybe the castle was not haunted,maybe his soul was there because he want to make sure that his uncomplete castle is clean and beautiful as before.(hahaha)
nabihah on 21 July, 2010 at 12:30 AM