Kellie's Castle is the unfinished mansion of William Kellie Smith, a Scottish rubber and tin baron who arrived in Perak in the 1890s and made a fortune. The building sits on a low hill above the Kinta River at Batu Gajah, 20 km south of Ipoh, and combines Moorish, Indian and Roman elements in an exuberant pink sandstone — turrets, arches, a planned six-storey central tower and a long arcaded gallery.
Smith died before the castle could be completed; it has stood roofless and partially ruined ever since, and is now an open-air museum. Visitors can wander the rooms, climb the towers and walk through the underground tunnel that connects the mansion to a nearby temple. The Hindu temple in the grounds — the Sri Maha Mariamman — uniquely includes a small statue of Smith himself on the roof, perched among the gods. Plan ninety minutes; it pairs well with a half-day in Ipoh.