An unfinished mansion
Work stopped when its owner died in 1926.
Kulshrax — CC BY 3.0 · Fairuskhafiz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hudaradz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hudaradz — CC BY-SA 4.0
An unfinished mansion among the rubber estates near the town of Batu Gajah, about twenty kilometres south of Ipoh, wrapped in one of the strangest stories of the colonial era. Its owner, the Scottish planter William Kellie-Smith, came to Malaya as a young man in 1890 and made his fortune in rubber and tin, then set out to build his family a mansion blending Moorish, Indian and Roman styles, bringing in some seventy craftsmen from Madras in India. The grand building began after his son's birth in 1915, but fate did not wait: the 1918 influenza epidemic is said to have killed many of the workers, and Kellie-Smith himself died in 1926 on a trip to Portugal, so work stopped, the mansion stayed unfinished, and his family sold the land and returned to Scotland. Today you wander its rooms, arched corridors and red walls, climb to the roof overlooking the forest and the small river, and hear the tales of secret passages and ghosts that visitors love. Entry is about ten ringgit for foreign adults and eight for children, and it opens daily from about half past nine. An hour or two is enough; midday is hot, so come in the morning or late afternoon. It lies on the road to Gua Tempurung south of Ipoh, so the two fit into half a day.
Work stopped when its owner died in 1926.
Moorish, Indian and Roman in one building.
Views over the forest and river.
Batu Gajah, about 20 km south of Ipoh
Yes if you like places with a story: the mansion photographs beautifully and its tale is gripping. Pair it with Gua Tempurung on the same road to fill half a day.