Your first clue that Raymus Homes isn’t your typical home builder can be found as you pull up to their models.
In both of their new South Manteca neighborhoods where you can find model homes — the sold-out Raceway Collection and Rina Grove’s where the first phase is almost 50 percent sold — you will find Little Free Libraries curbside.
The whimsical mini houses stocked with books are popular with young and old in the neighborhoods who occasionally strike up new friendships when they encounter someone else browsing through the lending exchange.
It’s a small touch but it speaks volumes as to what drives siblings Toni and Bob Raymus who are carrying on their late father Antoine Raymus’ legacy of not just simply building homes but building a community.
With Manteca home building roots planted back in 1945 — at one point in the 1980s one out of every five homes existing in Manteca were Raymus built — Raymus Homes: The Next Generation has a solid reputation.
Helping strengthen the community through storied efforts with the Manteca-Lathrop Boys & Girls Club, HOPE Family Shelter, Give Every Child a Chance, and the Great Valley Bookfest the family invests the same commitment to making sure they build quality and affordable homes for the families that chose to live in their neighborhoods.
Historically Raymus Homes has worked to provide the most affordable traditional new subdivision home in the Manteca market.
The Bella Roma — a single story home with 1,809 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms — starts at $382,990. It is one of seven models available at Rina’s Grove. All but one of the model homes and sales office can be found at 2004 Oleander Avenue just block south of Woodward Avenue where the 232-home Raceway Collection has sold out. While additional lots will be available in a future phase, the Raymus effort shifted to Rina’s Grove in mid-2016.
Sixty homes of the initial 147 lots have been sold at Rina’s Grove in the past six months. There is one model home on Rina’s Drive a block east of South Main Street — the 2,626-square-foot Starla with four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms in a two-story plan that has a multitude of ways adjusting space to meet a buyers’ needs and desires that starts at $445,990. The sales office is still on Oleander.
Rina’s Grove is an attractive neighborhood for a number of reasons in addition to the Raymus Homes. It has relatively limited access points assuring the traffic in the neighborhood will be those who reside or are visiting there. It also has an oversized neighborhood park at the heart of Rina’s Grove.
It is within 8 to 10 minutes of everything most people want close to their homes — Costco, Target, Walmart, a 16-screen cinema, numerous restaurants and other retail, a hospital, doctors’ offices, the 52-acre Woodward Park that is major soccer venue and more. In new shopping center anchored by Save Mart Supermarkets is breaking ground less than a mile away this year at Atherton Drive and Main Street.
Freeway access via the 120 Bypass and Main Street interchange is a little over a mile away.
A separated bicycle system that takes users under the 120 Bypass via Van Ryn Avenue without worrying about freeway interchange traffic. It is an easy connection to reach Manteca High, one of the north state’s best BMX tracks, and to access the 3.4 mile Tidewater Bikeway that goes through the heart of Manteca allowing easy access to Library Park with its summer concerts and farmers market, the library, downtown, and a host of other amenities.
Base models range from $382,990 with 1,809 square feet to $475,990 with 2,858 square feet.
The biggest seller is the Legends. It is a single story with three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a covered patio with 2,266 square feet starting at $436,990.
The Starla, however, might just offer the most varied room options.
You can have as many as six bedrooms with two of them built as suites.
The Starla model at Rina’s Grove takes another approach. The Starla footprint calls for the driveway to pass beneath a room to reach a two-car garage that sits below second floor living space.
The Rina’s Grove model instead of having a bedroom-bathroom suite on the first floor has a formal dining room with a super-sized walk-in pantry off a butler’s pantry.
There is a master suite and two bedrooms on the second floor. The room over the drive thru instead of being a bedroom is a unique “whiskey room” designed for adults to gather. The space over the garage instead of just being a large bonus room is designed as a kids/teen study and play area complete with a small kitchen area.
Raymus Homes’ sales office is open seven days a week. It can be reached by heading east from Airport Way or west from Union Road on Woodward Avenue and then turning south on Oleander Avenue.
More information can be found at RaymusHomes.com or calling 209.275.1483.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com