intriguing day

Guess where am I? hehe...
A definitely pleasing place to be.

Well, today i had a great afternoon.
Guess what? :)
I made a trip to Kellies Castle, the rediscovered mansion which was unfinished due to the demise of its owner, William Kellie-Smith in December 1962. The trip was pleasant and enjoying. :) If i could stay longer (the weather looked gloomy and as if it was going to rain), the rm4 per entry would be kind of worthwhile.

*If u bring student card, u'll only be charged for rm3*

Kellies Castle
(Moorish arches , Greco-Roman walls designs)

standing small in the midst of the mansion

the decaying castle with intact solid structures

Despite looking old and having signs of decay, the castle is still captivating and brings a sense of mythical feeling, exuding an air of grandeur. It is believed that the spirits od Old Man Kellie still wanders along the corridors....

mysterious corridor

another mysterious corridor

Housed in this grand 6-storey castle were several interesting rooms which include 'The Mystery of Helen's room," "Anthony's dressing room", "Kellie's guest room", "Son's (Anthony) room" and "Daughter's (Helen) room".

creepy, eh?
*creeps me out for a moment*

Yeah i have noticed there are some secret staircases which can lead to outside of the castle. Secret staircase, emergency stairway, underground tunnel were just so common in ancient days. As the castle was not fully constructed, there are certain parts like the secret staircase and underground tunnel which cannot be accessed due to lack of safety measure. So, i can't explore it...though have a strong urge to have at least a look of how it is like.. :(

But, i managed to capture the image of one emergency stairway :)



Below is the description of the wine cellar and underground tunnel.



Oh, not forgetting the special lift shaft which was supposed to be the first bucket lift in Malaya...





Some parts like the tower block and the new wing of the castle were constructed with bricks called apricot bricks. What an unique brick! The bricks were imported from Italy.



The following picture i gonna show is something that is truly amazing and fantastically cool!

Noticed something on the tree?

A bear-like shape on it!

Mysterious!

Well, let me summarize the history of Kellies Castle here.

Kellies Castle was built in 1909 and named after its owner, William Kellie-Smith. The construction, however, was unfinished upon the demise of Smith. The intention to surpass his estate bungalow which named Kinta Kelas brought about the idea of constructing Kellie's Castle. 70 tough workers, mostly from Madras, were employed. But during the construction, tragedy struck. There was an emerge of a mysterious illness which killed many workers. The superstitious Smith was told that a temple must be built to appease the gods. A Hindu temple was then built nearby. Upon completion, work continued but unfortunately the building was never to be completed because another tragedy hit again. Smith died of Pneumonia at the age of 56 during a visit to Lisbon. His wife sold the estate and as time passed and when it reached tHe end of colonial rule, the castle soon faded into memory.

The almost one-hour exploring is truly fun! Enjoyed it so much! What an experience! Partly thanks to my dear brother for giving the suggestion :P