A Man Who Dares to Dream - William Smith

A symbol of love...

Moorish Revival / Indo-Saracenic isn't that lovely?


Like the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. And in the architecture, there is definitely some moghul influence visible.


Editing.. in white color


The restoration of Kellie's Castle


The light of love..

The Art and Design


Through My Window



A Bear look-alike over the big tree.

A Man Who Dares to Dream :-
William Smith also knows as Kellie Smith. The Kellies Castle - The sheer splendour of an Italianate mansion so entirely unexpected in rural Malaysia seems to assert its presence to the densely planted rubber plantation. Sitting majestically on top of a ridge, Kellie’s Castle signifies both fortitude and sharpness of the owner, William Kellie Smith. Constructed in around 1909, the castle is still unique in encapsulating a moment in time, where white suits, endless ballroom revelry and a leading lady in lace was the order of the day.

The structure, apricot slab with patches of white stucco, rectangular in length, perforated by a variety of arches, rooted by square tower, bay and semi-circular bastion, is astounding enough to leave me a sense of displacement. As I gazed at the magnificent structure, a stir of emotions seems to run unfathomable in me. Here it is, stands what should have been an accomplished and beautiful endeavour has turned out to be just another hollow and half-fulfilled dream. In that early sunup, cupped by trees around the tower, the structure appears obscure and it is only full sunlight, which reveals its remarkable form.

Kellie’s Castle remains distinctive as years gone by. The impressive frontage which is reminiscent of the diverse enunciation of a mansion such as Hardwicke hall in the north of England, masks no more than a private, and relatively small, family wing; this was the second house to be erected on the site of Kellie’s Castle and, it was never completed. In the course of observation, it is rather baffling to note that the castle is not really a castle in the true sense of the word. It is clearly not a palace, nor a mansion, certainly not a castle and neither was it a folly! Perhaps for all-purpose and intention, a “palace” is most suitable, even it is not politically correct since during the period in which it was built a plantation was very much a remote secluded little kingdom in which the owner or manager was the source of all authority.

William Smith, the distinguished owner, was born in Dallas, on the Moray Firth in Scotland, on March 1, 1870. He added the name Kellie, later in his life, which was his mother’s maiden name. The Smith family were farmers, and their home farm was called “Easter Kellas”. His early home was commemorated in naming his first rubber estate Kinta Kellas, Kinta being the area of the river basin in which the estate is situated. He left the comfort of Moray Firth for South-East Asia. It was believed that it was his entrepreneurial spirit that drove him here in the first place.

His first recorded venture was with a business partner with a pioneer and rubber planter named Alma Baker, who has obtained a number of government contracts to make roads in South Perak, and William Smith was invited to jump into the bandwagon. He cleared and planted an area of 900 acres of forestland south of Ipoh. The estate he created was one of great beauty and driving through it today to reach Kellie’s Castle, the road following the contours of the land, crisscrossing other routes around continuous furrow. Surrounded at the same time by the terraced and ordered rows of rubber, the inner quiet of woodland, I cannot help but be reminded of the administrative flair and sheer hard work necessary to create such magnificent landscape.

William Smith had married Agnes Smith in 1903 and their first child Helen Agnes was born the following year. The home was an extremely imposing building and it was modelled on the Moorish styled Government Federal Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur. The house was surrounded by landscaped gardens, with flowerbeds, lawns and a lake and a great sweeping drive bordered by royal palms. A surviving photograph gives some idea of the manner in which the family lived, as well as the financial success Kellies Smith then enjoyed.

The surfeit of motor cars, house in a splendid garage, in all probability unusual anywhere at that time, the ordered line of domestic staff, all add to the impression that Kellie Smith had carved a kingdom out of the previously uncultivated land. Wandering around the estate today I can still imagine this as a private and self-contained world.

It is due to the greatest love of his dear wife, Agnes Smith that he built the second home, which lies in close proximity to the remains of the first house, across a courtyard along a covered walkway, no more than a few yards.

The construction came to an abrupt stop when a bad epidemic swept across the estate. It was called the ‘Spanish flu’, which killed many of Kellie’s Smith workers, including masons and plasterers from Madras. He transferred the entire work force to the construction of a rustic Hindu temple, which still stands by the roadside near the entrance to the estate. Once work on the temple complete, the work force moved back to continue Kellie’s Castle but it was still unfinished in 1926 when Kellie Smith left for England, together with his daughter. One purpose of his visit must have been to be reunited with his wife and son. Another reason for his visit was to collect a lift, which he was to have had installed in the tower in the castle. The lift shaft is still to be seen there, and it is probable that this would have been the first lift to be imported into Malaya.

A worker on the estate tells a story that Kellie Smith planned to go on building the tower until it was high enough for him to stand at the top and see Ipoh. As I made my way gingerly up the narrow and winding staircase to the rooftop of the tower, I could almost felt Kellie’s Smith’s fixation in making this endeavour of his a reality. An uncertain fusion of warmth and awe engulfed me as I stood on top of the tower overlooking the magnificent display of rubber greens surrounding me. But then again, it could be my stomach churning for standing at such height!

Perhaps the uncertainty of the height was one of the reasons why work was suspended until he had collected the lift. Events overtook him, and in Lisbon in December 1926, he fell ill and died of pneumonia. He was buried in the British cemetery there. The family did not return from England. His widow sold her interest in Kellas Rubber Estate. Neither of the children ever saw their home again.

Little remains of the first house he built 120 years ago. Approaching the site today, walking across the area of what had been the garden, the remaining wall and stairwell are masked by trees. The two-storied wall is penetrated and perhaps held together, by tree roots from the growth at rood level. Kellie’s Castle is unique in every sense of the word; it represents the development and change, which divide the world of yesterday and that of today.

It summed up too the aspiration of a man in the early 20th century who build with care and concern for climate and family comfort, to impress and to function as a home, and in doing so achieved a unique blend of architectural motifs and combined them overall with the openness and spaciousness of an oriental palace. As I walked away from the building, the foreboding sentiment that I felt when first arrived was gradually replaced with an overwhelming feeling of profound respect and admiration for Kellie’s Smith - a man who dares to dream.

Information:
Entrance fee is RM4.00 for adult RM2.00 for children.
Located near Batu Gajah, and is about 20 minutes' drive from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
The only bus follow the route is Kinta Bus up & down every one hour between Gopeng & Batu Gajah or you can charted the taxi in Batu Gajah.

For more details please call :
Aqfast Enterprise
Telephone : 605-3668198 or 605-3651336
Email : aqfast_kelliescastle@yahoo.com