Who says you can’t go home again?
After years of operating from a post office box, storing records in family basements and meeting in borrowed spaces, The Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation has returned to its ancestral roots in Ellet.
The nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to improving the lives of people with developmental disabilities in Northeast Ohio, has opened a permanent headquarters in the renovated barn and three-bay garage of the family’s century-old residence at 403 Canton Road in Akron.
“It was the greatest place in the world to play.” Reymann recalled.
“It was so opulent,” Skinner said. “It was just this expanse of house and land.”
A crowded house in Ellet
Their father, Clement Reymann, a twin with his brother Cletus, grew up in a crowded house. Charles and Salome Reymann, immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine in what is now France, raised 16 children — 13 boys and three girls — and built the Canton Road home in 1917.
The family’s 6,000-square-foot dwelling had seven bedrooms with the third floor serving as a dormitory.
“The girls all had their own rooms, the older boys were on the second floor and then all the other ones were upstairs,” Skinner said. “They literally had beds lined up.”
The Reymann farm included livestock, a pine grove, vineyard and orchard with apple, plum and cherry trees. They donated 2 ½ acres to establish St. Matthew Parish in the 1940s and also provided the land where Ellet Community Learning Center stands today.
Founder of Atlantic Foundry
Akron industrialist Charles Reymann Sr. (1869-1956) served 50 years as president of the Atlantic Foundry Co., which he co-founded in 1905 with four other European immigrants. They names the company in honor of the ocean they had crossed to get here.
Reymann bought out his partners and built the foundry into a 500-employee business that made tire molds, rings and gears for Goodyear, Firestone and other Akron companies. The foundry operated on a 13-acre site between Beaver Street and Annadale Avenue until economic reversals forced it to close in 1989. The complex was razed in 2024.
San Hygene was sold to another firm in the late 1960s.
Charles and Salome had big hearts. As devout Catholics, they gave generously to their children, church and community.
They often opened their home to people in need. Hobos, as they were then called, used to draw chalk figures of a cat on the Canton Road sidewalk as a message to other transients.
“That meant ‘A kind lady lives here,’ ” Skinner said. “If you were down on your luck, you could come and knock on Grandma’s door. For some work, she would give you a meal. It would be the same meal she was feeding her family.”
Foundation established in 1967
The couple found a calling after recognizing the needs of two grandchildren who would today be diagnosed as having developmental disabilities. The family provided financial support as well as leadership to groups dedicated to helping individuals with special needs.
In 1967, attorney Charles Reymann III and his cousin Gilbert Reymann Jr. founded The Charles and Salome Reymann Foundation to further their grandparents’ wishes. The foundation awards scholarships, presents programs and provides grants to organizations that work with people who have developmental disabilities.
Salome, who died in 1969 at age 86, had always wanted the family home to be used for good. For more than 50 years, the Canton Road residence has served as a group home.
“The foundation owns the home and we rent it to Community Support Services,” Steve Reymann explained. “They use it for men that have mental health issues. They’re in various levels of their treatment, but they’re not so severe that they need full-time caregiving.”
The 13 men have individual bedrooms and a supervisor, but enjoy a level of independence.
“It’s meant to be more of a homelike atmosphere,” Reymann said.
Inspiration for headquarters
Skinner came up with the idea of converting the family barn and garage into foundation offices while dining near Washington, D.C., in 2023.
“We were in an outdoor restaurant and I looked up and there were all these garage bays,” she said. “And I went, ‘That’s just like our barn,’ ”
What if they could repurpose that space?
The foundation contacted architect Alan Burge, a former board member, who brought a structural engineer to review the 1,620-square-foot enclosure. They determined that the barn and garage, used for storage, were structurally sound and could be renovated.
“He had plans drawn up within a month,” Skinner said.
Ground was broken in June 2025. An army of workers and volunteers leveled earth, poured cement, removed interior walls, repaired the roof, connected utilities, added fixtures, built a staircase, applied paint and installed doors and windows.
“Brick on the outer wall was starting to crumble and needed tuckpointing and the mortar had to be redone,” Reymann said.
The Reymann Foundation held a ribbon-cutting celebration Oct. 25 called “Our Journey Home.”
“There were tears when we had the grand opening,” Skinner said. “There were cousins that were crying because those memories are so strong.”
A tour at Reymann Foundation
Skinner and Reymann recently led a little tour of the new headquarters, pointing out site of interest and heirlooms donated by relatives.
The three-bay garage has been remodeled into a gathering room, office and bathroom.
Charles Reymann’s portrait, which used to hang over the fireplace in the family living room, greets visitors. Sister Matilda from Our Lady of the Elms was the artist.
“When she was painting his portrait, she just couldn’t get his eyes right,” Skinner said. “So Grandma said, ‘I’ll send you one.’ ”
As it turns out, Charles had a glass eye after an accident at the foundry. Salome let the nun borrow a spare, and the painting came out just fine.
“It was made here in Akron,” he said. “They had love seats, couches, poker tables, end tables, all made out of bourbon barrels.”
A heavy oak desk from Atlantic Foundry is the office’s focal point. During the refinishing, someone discovered the date April 23, 1918, under the desktop.
“That is a very precious desk,” Skinner said.
Interior doors are solid oak and have cross patterns like the ones that Salome requested be placed throughout her home.
A copper wall ornament depicting gingko leaves is a nod to a giant tree out front that was planted as a seedling in the 1940s by one of the five Reymann boys who served in World War II.
A wainscoting wall treatment matches the one in the family dining room.
Scratched in concrete along the driveway is a cat figure with the words “A Nice Lady Lives Here.”
A boardroom and museum
The old barn has been remodeled into two sections. Upstairs is the boardroom where meetings will be held. It used to be the hayloft.
Reymann remembers climbing the ladder to take a look as a kid.
“If Mom and Dad said ‘Go out and play,’ boy, I was in here,” he said.
It’s easier to get up there now. Workers cut out a 6-inch-thick section of concrete and rebar in the floor to install an oak staircase that resembles the one in the home.
The first level of the barn will be a Reymann Foundation museum that the family hopes to furnish with artifacts from the family home and businesses.
A piece of Akron history is on the ceiling. Measuring 10 feet in diameter, the letter “A,” salvaged from the Atlantic Foundry sign, has been converted into a giant light fixture.
“We begged, borrowed and pleaded to get that,” Skinner said.
How to contribute
Reymann descendants can contact the foundation to contribute heirlooms to the museum. To learn more about the nonprofit group or donate money, go to reymannfoundation.org.
Skinner and Reymann are happy that the foundation has come home.
“It just makes you feel that you’re touching on the past,” Reymann said. “You can reach out to it and it’s tangible.”
When it’s time for younger generations of Reymann descendants to pick up the baton at the foundation, they will have something tangible.
“We have these strong memories; they might not have as many,” Skinner said. “So we’re trying to give them something that’s very physical that they can experience and then they can continue that mission forward.”
