Antone Raymus’ parents moved him and his siblings to Manteca in 1920 from San Jose.
They did so for the same reason people from the Bay Area do so today — to build a better life for their families with a home they could call their own.
They had purchased a dairy on the northwest corner of Louise Avenue and Jack Tone Road that still operates today.
His sisters had the luxury of making the move in a car.
Antone, along with family belongings, came in the back of a wagon pulled by a horse.
It’s part of the back story of what led to the founding of a family development firm in 1945 that has since built more than 6,000 homes in 100 plus neighborhoods. Of those, roughly 5,000 are in Manteca.
Raymus Homes — today run by Antone’s daughter Toni and son Bob — accounts for one of every six single family homes now standing in Manteca thanks to the family real estate and home building concern now marking its 80th year.
“We build homes, not just houses,” Toni said echoing the sentiment that her late father often voiced.
And they were — and are — built with an emphasis of providing buyers with quality homes.
“Dad taught us to (build homes and make deals) that are good for all parties,” Bob noted.
Such a philosophy has led to families that have moved up over the years and who have owned three, four and even five different Raymus built homes.
Building homes &
building community
The Raymus family, when it comes to Manteca, has always built more than homes. They also have literally built a community.
There are no less than 20 houses of faith and such concerns as the Masonic Lodge that have benefitted from the outright gift of land or obtaining it at a deeply discounted price thanks to Antone.
The list includes providing actual buildings to house community services such as the non-profit Love Thy Neighbor that for decades distributed food, clothing, furniture, and even gas money for struggling people to get to and from work.
The HOPE Ministries Union Road single mom shelter is among the gifts given to the community.
Antone also bankrolled the founding of Give Every Child a Chance that every year several thousand students get extra help to do better in school. He also was the key backer of the effort that built the Manteca Boys & Girls Club.
His legacy isn’t just children who build homes and make it a point to strive to always offer the least expensive model on the market to help Manteca neighbors qualify for new homes.
It also includes the same commitment to the community.
Toni spearheaded the establishment of the Great Valley Bookfest while Bob was a driving force behind the opening of the Thomas Toy Teen Community Center.
They are also engaged in actively supporting with money and time a wealth of community endeavors such as Bob through HOPE Family Shelter.
And it goes way beyond.
Various foundations established 100 percent on the strength of the 6,000 plus homes the Raymuses have built or with sizable donations account for upwards of $500,000 annually in grants.
Not bad for a family company started by a young boy who arrived in Manteca 105 years ago.
Went to San Mateo to buy a car
but came back as a home owner
The decision Antone made at age 25 that changed his life — and thousands of other families that have bought homes and tens upon tens of thousands that have had their lives touched by the Raymus family’s generosity and strong sense of community — was a trip to San Mateo.
Antone had saved up money to buy a car.
He ended up hitchhiking home after his sister in San Mateo convinced him instead to buy a home next door to hers that was for sale.
That 1942 deal secured a rental that — after mortgage payments and such — had a positive $25 a month cash flow.
By 1945, Antone had opened his own real estate company.
He’d stand outside the El Rey Theatre that has since been converted into the Veranda Events Center waiting for movies to end to hand out his business cards to patrons as they were leaving.
It is how he secured his first listing, a ranch that a farmer wanted to sell.
The first Raymus built homes were on Elmo Court off of North Powers Avenue.
It was back in the days where people built homes and then the city put streets in place.
The homes on Elmo Court sold for $9,800 in 1955.
Today, the lower end new Raymus Homes in neighborhoods under construction such as Griffin Park and Manteca Trails are selling in the mid $600,000s.
Pushing brooms &
answering phones
When the brother-sister team took over, Toni concentrated on land development and entitlements while Bob oversaw the building of homes and customer service.
Raymus, in many ways, has redefined customer service.
An example was several years ago, when owners that had been in their homes for upwards of six years received letters from the company asking if they experienced any construction related issues with their homes.
The few that indicated they had, were surprised to see Raymus Homes address the things they pointed out even though their home was several years out of warranty.
The siblings went to work in the company business as preteens.
Toni helped with office work doing everything from answering phones, reproducing blueprints and assisting with paperwork to manning open houses.
Eventually, Toni also ran the now defunct Manteca News her father established as while as the Ripon Record that he owned for a number of years.
As an 11 year-old, Bob and his cousin John Gotchall were put to work cleaning the streets of the 450-home El Rancho Mobile Home Park by pushing brooms.
Residents would often invite them in for milk and cookies.
“Dad said to accept the invitations because older people get lonely,” Bob recalled.
By the time he entered high school, Bob was installing baseboard and hanging doors in new homes.
Toni notes her father was always appreciative of those already in the real estate and home building business that went out of their way to show them the proverbial ropes.
The long list of Raymus endeavors includes building and running the city’s first bowling alley in the 1950s to provide Manteca with family entertainment.
A half century later, he replaced it with the family fun center bowl that at the time it opened had the largest arcade and most lanes of any bowling alley in Northern California.
Raymus put together the land deal that allowed the Mission Ridge Shopping Center anchored by Walmart, Pak-n-Sav (Safeway), and Mervyns to open in 1990 on South Main Street.
Raymus has also built homes over the years in nearby communities such as Ripon, Linden, Oakdale, Escalon, Patterson, Valley Springs, Stockton, and Modesto.
Antone passed away in 2004 at the age of 87.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
