Kellie's Castle is a must-visit.
JY fantasized about being a duchess fleeing from evading troops; the boys ran from room to room, dashed up staircases and pretended to be archers from the top floor, K admired the architecture and I was in awe at how superior the workmanship was back then.
Built by William Kellie Smith. Plagued by one tragedy after another, it had never seen completion.
We were contemplating the feng shui of the place. The castle was perched on a hill top with a meandering stream in front. Excellent feng shui, right?
Later, we were told that we were not looking at the front of the castle but the back.
So that changed the feng shui significantly.
An interesting fact is that the river was not in its original location but was diverted to accommodate mining activites nearby.
Four-leaf clover designs on the walls.
The holes in the wall were meant for the scaffolding.
The castle was a mishmash of Italian towers, Roman pillars, Moghul windows and doors, Moorish designs.
Very fusion.
No cement was used in the construction. Instead a mixture of sand, chalk and duck egg whites and shells were used. Same technology was used for Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat and the Great Wall of China.
Ceiling of daughter's room.
Note the beautifully painted cornice.
The timber used for the door and window frames were in mint condition. Beautiful solid chengal wood.
K walked around and did a thorough termite inspection and said the place was free of any infestation.
Horse stable and guard house
View of lift shaft from the top floor of the tower.
This was suppose to be the first such elevator in the region.
William died of pneumonia while in Lisbon shopping his lift.
View of Kellas House from the top floor of Kellie's Castle.
William Kellie Smith's family resided in Kellas House(left) and with the birth of his son, he decided to build the much bigger Kellie's Castle(right).
Kellas House was destroyed during World War II.
Italian marble in a bathroom of Kellas House.
William's apparition was spotted walking along this corridor.
William's apparition was spotted walking along this corridor.
Secret staircase.
Escape routes from most of the bedrooms on the second floor led to the back of the building via such staircases.
During the construction of Kellie's Castle, a few of William's labourers fell victim to Spanish flu. Not knowing why his workers were dying, William being superstitious, was told that the Gods were not pleased and he was instructed to build a temple.
During the construction of Kellie's Castle, a few of William's labourers fell victim to Spanish flu. Not knowing why his workers were dying, William being superstitious, was told that the Gods were not pleased and he was instructed to build a temple.
About 1km from Kellie's Castle, you will be able to see the Hindu temple that was built and an effigy of William (look for his brown suit) stands atop the temple.
Most of the information that we got on the castle was from listening in as Mr Tajudin, the curator, gave a briefing to the crew of 8TV.
He told us about the mistakenly sealed underground passageway that led from the tower to the river and of the paranormal activities that were proven by live footage.
Fai's sketch of Kellie's Castle. Check out the ghostly figures....Woooooo!
The camera on tripod on the rooftop is for capturing footage of ghosts.
On the left is the "Bear Tree".
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