Ramelton House was built by David Elphinstone as his own home. Elphinstone was the responsible for building over 200 houses in Glebe between 1877 and 1884.
52 Derwent Street
David Elphinstone, builder and contractor
“David Elphinstone, born at Broughton Street, Glebe in 1846, married Sarah Cooke in 1868, a union that produced eleven children. He began his trade as a carpenter in 1868, moving to Ramelton House, Derwent Street, in 1874, where he lived till 1884. Elphinstone became an elder of Glebe Presbyterian Church, and a freemason, and represented Bishopthorpe Ward on Council from 1881 to 1886. The Elphinstone building yard was in Parramatta Road, and he moved to new offices at 246 Pitt Street, Sydney, where he was described as a building surveyor in 1877; two years later he was listed as an architect.”(Max Solling, p102)
Elphinstone formed a close and remunerative association with the Metropolitan Mutual Permanent Building and Investment Association which had acquired leases for St Phillips and Bishopthorpe from the Church of England. Between 1877 and 1885 Elphinstone called tenders for 211 houses and shops in the area, making him Glebe’s largest contractor. He finished building in Glebe in 1884 when he left for Summer Hill. He died there in 1916.