President, Elfant Wissahickon Realtors.
Robert J. Elfant was born in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia. His family moved to the near suburbs when Bob was a child. After graduating from Springfield High School (Montgomery County), he attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he earned a BS in Economics in 1973.
He joined his father’s real estate business after graduation from Wharton; became president of the company in 1977; and opened a second location on Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy in 1984. In 1993, the sales division of Martin Elfant Inc. merged with Wissahickon Realty to become Elfant Wissahickon REALTORS.
Although his success in real estate can be witnessed all over the Northwest section of Philadelphia, his accomplishments go well beyond the amassing of property. Bob Elfant instinctively understands that “place matters”. Because of that, he has spent much of his time establishing community institutions that would be beneficial to all. In the past decade, Bob, his wife, Nancy, and a small group of partners, established the Trolley Car Diner on a gateway property in Mount Airy. From early morning to late at night, the diner is full of a people looking for a “home style meal” and camaraderie. The establishment of Valley Green Bank came out of the desire to bring a community bank to Mount Airy. After a year of frustration trying to convince an already established bank to open an office on Germantown Ave., Bob and his partners did it themselves. The bank has grown steadily and has opened a second office in Chestnut Hill.
His community activism extends far and wide. He is actively involved in East and West Mount Airy Neighbors Associations; Arden Theatre; Mount Airy Learning Tree; Philomusica Chorale; Mount Airy baseball; Weaver’s Way Co-op; Mount Airy Village Development Corporation; and the Mount Airy Business Association. The list of organizations he has supported financially is too many to count. Because of Bob Elfant’s personal commitment of time and effort to the organizations and the neighborhoods that he holds dear, he has been honored by WMAN as one of “40 Good Neighbors”; awarded the honorary title of Mayor of Mount Airy by Mount Airy USA; received the Edgar Baker Award for Community service from East Mount airy Neighbors; and the Community College of Philadelphia Northwest Center Award for Leadership.
Bob Elfant and his wife, Nancy, both huge Philadelphia sports fans, have been married for over thirty-five years. They have three children. Lauren, who is married to James Wong, is a Public Defender in the Bronx. Their daughter, Jamie, lives in Munich and operates a Bed & Breakfast. Jeffrey, their son, works in property management at Martin Elfant, Inc.
