diff --git a/packages/ember-htmlbars/lib/renderer.js b/packages/ember-htmlbars/lib/renderer.js
index 75ab0104ca7..7c1a05e1e41 100755
--- a/packages/ember-htmlbars/lib/renderer.js
+++ b/packages/ember-htmlbars/lib/renderer.js
@@ -64,11 +64,7 @@ Renderer.prototype.revalidateTopLevelView =
     // This guard prevents revalidation on an already-destroyed view.
     if (view._renderNode.lastResult) {
       view._renderNode.lastResult.revalidate(view.env);
-      // supports createElement, which operates without moving the view into
-      // the inDOM state.
-      if (view._state === 'inDOM') {
-        this.dispatchLifecycleHooks(view.env);
-      }
+      this.dispatchLifecycleHooks(view.env);
       this.clearRenderedViews(view.env);
     }
   };
@@ -149,13 +145,6 @@ Renderer.prototype.replaceIn =
     run.scheduleOnce('render', this, this.renderTopLevelView, view, morph);
   };
 
-Renderer.prototype.createElement =
-  function Renderer_createElement(view) {
-    let morph = this._dom.createFragmentMorph();
-    morph.ownerNode = morph;
-    this.prerenderTopLevelView(view, morph);
-  };
-
 Renderer.prototype.didCreateElement = function (view, element) {
   if (element) {
     view.element = element;
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/lib/mixins/view_support.js b/packages/ember-views/lib/mixins/view_support.js
index 32b8e937934..26a4ed87603 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/lib/mixins/view_support.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/lib/mixins/view_support.js
@@ -114,9 +114,6 @@ export default Mixin.create({
   /**
     Appends the view's element to the specified parent element.
 
-    If the view does not have an HTML representation yet, `createElement()`
-    will be called automatically.
-
     Note that this method just schedules the view to be appended; the DOM
     element will not be appended to the given element until all bindings have
     finished synchronizing.
@@ -297,26 +294,6 @@ export default Mixin.create({
     return jQuery(id)[0] || jQuery(id, parentElem)[0];
   },
 
-  /**
-    Creates a DOM representation of the view and all of its child views by
-    recursively calling the `render()` method. Once the element is created,
-    it sets the `element` property of the view to the rendered element.
-
-    After the element has been inserted into the DOM, `didInsertElement` will
-    be called on this view and all of its child views.
-
-    @method createElement
-    @return {Ember.View} receiver
-    @private
-  */
-  createElement() {
-    if (this.element) { return this; }
-
-    this.renderer.createElement(this);
-
-    return this;
-  },
-
   /**
     Called when a view is going to insert an element into the DOM.
 
@@ -348,30 +325,6 @@ export default Mixin.create({
   */
   willClearRender: K,
 
-  /**
-    Destroys any existing element along with the element for any child views
-    as well. If the view does not currently have a element, then this method
-    will do nothing.
-
-    If you implement `willDestroyElement()` on your view, then this method will
-    be invoked on your view before your element is destroyed to give you a
-    chance to clean up any event handlers, etc.
-
-    If you write a `willDestroyElement()` handler, you can assume that your
-    `didInsertElement()` handler was called earlier for the same element.
-
-    You should not call or override this method yourself, but you may
-    want to implement the above callbacks.
-
-    @method destroyElement
-    @return {Ember.View} receiver
-    @private
-  */
-  destroyElement() {
-    this._currentState.destroyElement(this);
-    return this;
-  },
-
   /**
     You must call `destroy` on a view to destroy the view (and all of its
     child views). This will remove the view from any parent node, then make
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/default.js b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/default.js
index 066581d150f..42f4a788718 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/default.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/default.js
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@ export default {
     return true; // continue event propagation
   },
 
-  destroyElement() { },
-
   destroy() { },
 
   rerender(view) {
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/destroying.js b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/destroying.js
index 25c6ea59c67..2be7395e3db 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/destroying.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/destroying.js
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ assign(destroying, {
   },
   rerender() {
     throw new EmberError('You can\'t call rerender on a view being destroyed');
-  },
-  destroyElement() {
-    throw new EmberError('You can\'t call destroyElement on a view being destroyed');
   }
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/has_element.js b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/has_element.js
index c84691b6b79..82ea3c932e8 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/has_element.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/lib/views/states/has_element.js
@@ -33,10 +33,6 @@ assign(hasElement, {
     view.renderer.rerender(view);
   },
 
-  destroyElement(view) {
-    view.renderer.remove(view, false);
-  },
-
   destroy(view) {
     view.renderer.remove(view, true);
   },
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/instrumentation_test.js b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/instrumentation_test.js
index 08d5328f6e6..21434a35785 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/instrumentation_test.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/instrumentation_test.js
@@ -50,9 +50,3 @@ QUnit.test('generates the proper instrumentation details when called directly',
 
   confirmPayload(payload, view);
 });
-
-QUnit.test('should add ember-view to views', function() {
-  run(view, 'createElement');
-
-  confirmPayload(beforeCalls[0], view);
-});
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/append_to_test.js b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/append_to_test.js
index bf29ab5575e..e1f73c13b29 100644
--- a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/append_to_test.js
+++ b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/append_to_test.js
@@ -88,28 +88,6 @@ QUnit.test('raises an assert when a target does not exist in the DOM', function(
 });
 
 
-QUnit.test('remove removes an element from the DOM', function() {
-  willDestroyCalled = 0;
-
-  view = View.create({
-    willDestroyElement() {
-      willDestroyCalled++;
-    }
-  });
-
-  ok(!get(view, 'element'), 'precond - should not have an element');
-
-  run(() => view.append());
-
-  ok(jQuery('#' + get(view, 'elementId')).length === 1, 'precond - element was inserted');
-
-  run(() => view.destroyElement());
-
-  ok(jQuery('#' + get(view, 'elementId')).length === 0, 'remove removes an element from the DOM');
-  ok(!get(view, 'element'), 'remove nulls out the element');
-  equal(willDestroyCalled, 1, 'the willDestroyElement hook was called once');
-});
-
 QUnit.test('destroy more forcibly removes the view', function() {
   willDestroyCalled = 0;
 
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/create_element_test.js b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/create_element_test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index ad6558c4976..00000000000
--- a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/create_element_test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-import { get } from 'ember-metal/property_get';
-import run from 'ember-metal/run_loop';
-import EmberView from 'ember-views/views/view';
-import { compile } from 'ember-htmlbars-template-compiler';
-
-let view;
-
-QUnit.module('Ember.View#createElement', {
-  teardown() {
-    run(function() {
-      view.destroy();
-    });
-  }
-});
-
-QUnit.test('returns the receiver', function() {
-  view = EmberView.create();
-
-  let ret = run(() => view.createElement());
-
-  equal(ret, view, 'returns receiver');
-});
-
-QUnit.test('calls render and turns resultant string into element', function() {
-  view = EmberView.create({
-    tagName: 'span',
-    template: compile('foo')
-  });
-
-  equal(get(view, 'element'), null, 'precondition - has no element');
-
-  run(() => view.createElement());
-
-  let elem = get(view, 'element');
-  ok(elem, 'has element now');
-  equal(elem.innerHTML, 'foo', 'has innerHTML from context');
-  equal(elem.tagName.toString().toLowerCase(), 'span', 'has tagName from view');
-});
diff --git a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/destroy_element_test.js b/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/destroy_element_test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9cf9bf38a8d..00000000000
--- a/packages/ember-views/tests/views/view/destroy_element_test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-import { get } from 'ember-metal/property_get';
-import run from 'ember-metal/run_loop';
-import EmberView from 'ember-views/views/view';
-
-let view;
-
-QUnit.module('EmberView#destroyElement', {
-  teardown() {
-    run(() => view.destroy());
-  }
-});
-
-QUnit.test('if it has no element, does nothing', function() {
-  let callCount = 0;
-  view = EmberView.create({
-    willDestroyElement() { callCount++; }
-  });
-
-  ok(!get(view, 'element'), 'precond - does NOT have element');
-
-  run(() => view.destroyElement());
-
-  equal(callCount, 0, 'did not invoke callback');
-});
-
-QUnit.test('returns receiver', function() {
-  let ret;
-  view = EmberView.create();
-
-  run(() => {
-    view.createElement();
-    ret = view.destroyElement();
-  });
-
-  equal(ret, view, 'returns receiver');
-});
-
-QUnit.test('removes element from parentNode if in DOM', function() {
-  view = EmberView.create();
-
-  run(() => view.append());
-
-  let parent = view.$().parent();
-
-  ok(get(view, 'element'), 'precond - has element');
-
-  run(() => view.destroyElement());
-
-  equal(view.$(), undefined, 'view has no selector');
-  ok(!parent.find('#' + view.get('elementId')).length, 'element no longer in parent node');
-});