10 Amazing Castles Built for Love!

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The inside of the Taj Mahal, as well as the outlying buildings, were mostly built out of red sandstone. In building it, the architects combined different architectural styles, including Indian, Persian and Islamic. But the heart of the 'castle' remains the tomb and the memory of lost true love.

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4. Kellie's Castle


The oldest castle in Malaysia, Kellie's castle was built for the love Scottish planter William Kellie Smith held for his Scottish wife Agnes. In 1903, William brought Agnes to Malaysia and into the castle. But Agnes was not happy there, for she missed her homeland terribly. In 1915, she gave birth to a baby boy, which is when Kellie made the mistake of expanding the castle, a move that turned a beautiful castle into a sad story.

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During this further construction and in celebration of his new son, William decided to combine 3 different architectural styles: Indian, Greco-Roman and Moorish. Almost immediately after construction on this huge venture began, the Spanish flu erupted in the area, killing the lion share of the 70 construction workers he hired, while scaring off many of the survivors. To please his Indian workers, William had a Hindu temple built near the castle, and so the workers were mollified and restarted construction.

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Although the construction continued, many of the workers spread stories about the castle being 'cursed' and 'haunted'. When William left for England to buy a crane for the castle tower, he caught pneumonia and died shortly after. Following his death, the workers fled the site and the building was left uncompleted. Many claim this spot is haunted and it attracts paranormal groups every year.

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5. Thornewood Castle


Thornewood Castle was indeed built for love. It resides in Tacoma, Washington. This castle was not built for a new bride or a dead one, but by Chester Thorne for his wife of 20 years. For its beautiful interior, it has been used in the film 'Rose Red', based on a Stephen King story.


Top photo: Construction of 'rose red', 1910. Lower left: Interior living room.
Lower right: Interior fireplace in living room.

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The gardens of Thornwood are stunning, and were originally built for Anna, the wife. She used to call the sunken English garden her "secret garden". This chess set remains from those days as a silent testament to the true love between this man and wife. This is one castle of love that did NOT suffer a tragic ending, for which we are grateful.

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6. Taj Lake Palace
Some castles are built for romantic love, while others were built for a more... amorous type of love. Take for example the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur. The construction of the palace began as a rebellious act by a stubborn prince.
According to the palace history, it had "Glowing moonlight. Gentle lakeside breezes. A whole entourage of courtesans. What young prince could resist? Certainly not Maharana Jagat Singh II. Legend has it that the young prince indulged in moonlight picnics with the ladies of the Zenana on the lake island palace of Jag Mandir. A pleasurable pastime – until his father found out. With that option closed to him, there was only one solution. He built his own pleasure palace on a different island in Lake Pichola."

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The Lily Pond from an exterior view point of the Taj Lake Palace. Construction began in 1743 and finished in 1746. So this amazing lover's nest was indeed built for love, but some would just call it passion instead. Today it is one of the most romantic hotels in the world.

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7. Torrechiara Castle
This huge solid stone castle was built in Northern Italy, 1448 to 1460. It was built by a count, Pier Maria II Rossi, who built it out of love for Bianca Pellegrini. It was called Torrechiara. In 1985, scenes from the movie Ladyhawk were filmed there.

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Out of the four towers of the castle, one is called the 'Lily Tower' (Torre Del Giglio) and bears the coat of arms of the count's lover Bianca. This was an amazing love nest, and is famous for its 'Golden Chamber', a known erotic chamber in Italy, decorated with paintings of women looking for their lover, entwined hearts marked with the lovers' initials and joined by a ribbon on which is written 'Nunc Et Semper', or in English - Now and forever.
This castle also had no tragic ending, we're happy to report!