The Castle that never was..

In the days of the mighty British Empire, a young, wealthy Irish aristocrat took upon himself the task of building a Moorish styled mansion beside the Kinta River. It was aptly named Kellie's Castle after his own name; William Kellie Smith.

Unfortunately the castle was never completed, as Kellie died from pneumonia in Lisbon, Portugal as he journeyed home to England to meet his family. Hence, his bereaved wife sold was was left of the incomplete property and never returned to Malaya.

For more historical information, look here.


The 4 storey tower was to enable Kellie to oversee his whole 900 acre estate and command a clear view of the Kinta valley where the manor is located.


Since the manor was never completed (and the construction drawings were never recovered), many people have made assumptions on what the rooms were going to be used for.

This is supposedly the family prayer room, because Kellie , who's Irish, was purportedly a devout catholic.


As you walk through the main home, you will find a large courtyard to the left of the image...


...which separates the new wing from the old wing of the residency.


The new wing looks more refined and less ''monolithic'' than the former, but thats probably just my outlook on how things look like. We can only speculate how things would turn out if the mansion was completed, but for now, all the mystery and fantasy makes this site pretty interesting !


I suspect a fireplace was going to be built at the bottom right of the image.


In the old wing, the bathrooms are orientated towards the Kinta Valley while the bedroom don't really have a nice view because they are accessed from the courtyard side. Mr. Kellie was brilliant in the sense that in the days where fire escape routes weren't yet enforced, he made secret passage ways available from each attached bathroom which lead to the ground floor of the mansion.


A view of the Kinta Valley from the attached bathrooms. It would have been a wonderful sight indeed after a bath!


A view of the balcony from the master bedroom.


You can see the Kinta River to the left as you ascend to the outdoor terrace.


They say Mr. Kellie still roams along the corridors, admiring his mansion. Hence its no surprise the Singaporean Paranormal Society conducts visits to this place!


I can imagine comfortable sofas being placed right next to the windows as the Kellie's sip some english tea and admire the view of the Kinta Valley.


I have no doubt that this castle would've looked grand in its completed state, but some things are better left where they are, isn't it? ;)