Kellie's Castle — Attraction in Perak

Kellie's Castle.... Picturesque surroundings

I will try to be as detail as possible in this.

We bunch of expats went out to Ipoh for long drive from KL on New year day.

We saw many reviews on it and seems kind of popular. So decided to visit this place at the last moment.

We have reached this location by evening 5 PM and it operational hours of it are till 6 PM on weekdays and 6:30 PM on Fri, Sat & Sundays. But they asked us to leave by 6 PM on Friday evening.

They are maintaining it very well and so clean those premises are. They have entry fee for this facility(Attached pic as well for your reference).

Adult Malaysian - RM 5 Foreigner - RM 10 Kids (4-11yrs) Malaysian - RM 3 Foreigner - RM 8 Senior Citizen Malaysian - RM 4 Foreigner - RM 10

On the castle, its a small 2 story building and has greenery backyard. To be frank its not that a big place but yet beautiful surroundings for taking some amazing pictures(added some for your reference). There are few spots where you can get good pictures but those places are crowded and everyone is waiting for their time to take some pictures.

Castle has a underground wine cellar and ground floor is more for socializing purpose with waiting lounge and some setting and now they are using to explain the history of this castle. 2nd floor they have 3 bedrooms(Master bedroom, Son Bedroom and Daughter's bedroom) with wooden basement. They have 2 escape routes behind toilets. One for Master bedroom and another one is in between Son & Daughter's bedroom.

There was a story going around saying few photographers who came to picture Bats have spotted a Ghostly image of a man standing looking out window and it also claims that this has been telecasted in Discovery Channel as well.

There is a small canal passing through this surroundings and they have a keys wall and souvenir shop to pick some souvenir to remember this so called Ghostly castle.

They are harnessing the solar energy by placing all solar powered lights in castle surroundings. GO GREEN

So out and out, its a small castle and nothing compare to Indian Forts(Hyderabad/Udaypur/Delhi/Jaipur/Mysore) or European castles and you been to any of those then you can give a pass to this place. But it has beautiful surrounds, especially the pics taken with background of Sime Darby Palm oil tree plantations were breath taking ones. Carry a good hand phone when you are visiting this place to capture those surroundings and there was a sign saying RM 50 fine for Professional Cameras(There might be fee which I missed to enquire).

Maintenance - 7/10 picturesque - 8/10 History- 4/10 Quality - 5/10 Environmental - 8/10 Accessible by Road - 8/10 Parking - 6/10 (Small parking place and weekends you end up parking...

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. According to differing accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son. Kellie's Castle is situated beside the Raya River (Sungai Raya), which is a small creek to the Kinta River.Construction on a mansion started in 1910 called the Kellas House, which would eventually become the castle. With the birth of Kellie-Smith's son in 1915, he started planning for a huge castle with Moorish, Indo-Saracenic and Roman designs.Kellie-Smith brought in 70 craftsmen from Madras, India. All the bricks and marble were imported from India too. Included in the plan was a four-floored building with 14 rooms and an elevator (Malaya's first), it also included underground tunnels, secret rooms, a tennis court, a wine cellar and hidden stairways. Also, the bricks and tiles made for the castle were brought from India.2

During construction, a virulent strain of Spanish flu struck his workmen in 1918.[2] When his workmen approached him to build a temple nearby, Kellie-Smith readily agreed. In return for his generosity, they built a statue of him beside the other deities on the lord murugan temple wall. It is believed that a tunnel was built to the temple from the castle. Descendants of the Tamil labourers brought over to Malaya to work on the mansion still live nearby.[citation needed]

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 the workers and the castle was left abandoned in the jungle.[2] 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.[3]

Kellie's Castle is now a popular local tourist attraction. It was used as a setting in the 1999 film Anna and the King and 2001 film Skyline Cruisers.[4]

The castle saw recent developments to its physical condition for the comfort of its tourists, a restaurant was also made across the river opposite the castle. During school holidays, the castle would have as much as 500 to 700 people visiting daily.[3]

In 2015, Kellie's Castle was the site of the first ever 24-hour comic challenge in a castle. A collaboration between Port Ipoh and the Malaysian Comic Activist Society (PEKOMIK) and Malaysian Animation Society (ANIMAS), the event took place on 21–22 March 2015 and was claimed as the "scariest" 24 hour...

Kellie’s Castle Revisited: A Whisper from the Past

Returning to Kellie’s Castle after more than a decade felt like stepping into a memory—one that had shifted slightly, yet still held its soul. Perched on a hill in Batu Gajah, Perak, this unfinished mansion remains one of Malaysia’s most enigmatic historical landmarks. Built in 1915 by Scottish planter William Kellie-Smith, the castle was meant to be a grand symbol of love and legacy, blending Moorish, Indo-Saracenic, and Romanesque styles. It was to house Malaya’s first elevator, secret tunnels, and a rooftop courtyard for lavish gatherings.

But fate intervened. Kellie-Smith died unexpectedly in 1926 during a trip to Portugal, and construction came to a halt. His family never returned, and the castle was left to time and the jungle. Over the years, it became a hauntingly beautiful relic—its arches, bricks, and unfinished towers telling stories of ambition, tragedy, and colonial dreams.

This revisit stirred a quiet nostalgia. While the structure still commands awe, I noticed subtle design alterations—perhaps well-intentioned restorations, but ones that slightly shift the original ambiance. For those who remember the castle as it once stood, or who’ve seen it immortalized in the 1999 film Anna and the King starring Chow Yun-Fat and Jodie Foster, the differences are noticeable. That film captured the castle’s raw, untouched elegance—a cinematic time capsule of its original form.

I sincerely hope the authorities will preserve the remaining structure of Kellie’s Castle in its original form. Rather than modernizing or altering it, let it stand as an authentic testament to the past—weathered, raw, and real. Its true value lies not in polished updates but in its ability to connect people around the world with a chapter of history that still whispers through its silent halls.

Appreciate you stopping by! For more travel tales, hidden spots, and behind-the-scenes bites from places like this, hop over to my profile — the journey...