Mrs. Reynolds is carrying on one of the most interesting experiments ever made in the South. As a foundation for her working force she had provided a church, a school, and a preacher-teacher...The school is not for the sole use of the boys and girls, but for the adults also.  The preacher-teacher is teaching grown men and women to read and write and "cipher" . . . The entire place is to be turned into a model community.
 -Union Republican, Winston-Salem, August 19, 1915

Even before the Reynolds family moved to Reynolda, the village had become a
thriving community of farm supervisors and experts in various fields that contributed to the maintenance, appearance, and well being of the estate.  In 1919 a large new house, later serving as the manse, provided a residence for the young teachers who were hired for the Reynolda School.

Community residents felt privileged to live in the cheerful cottages equipped with the comforts of modern living.  Steam heat, indoor bathrooms, and telephones made cottage occupants appear well to do in the eyes of their rural counterparts.  Although both white and black employees lived in the main village, another settlement, called Five Row, was built along Silas Creek for black farm workers.   Additional workers lived in homes and boarding houses scattered throughout the estate.

Most residents found nearly everything they needed at Reynolda - abundant food, schools, places of worship, post office, and recreational facilities.  Nonetheless, Katharine supplied a bus to carry residents to and from town on a regular schedule since few owned automobiles in the early years.  It was especially useful for the domestic staff, who, with the exception of the majordomo and the chauffeur, lived in town.  Reynolda employees expressed pride in contributing to an estate that was said to be the most beautiful and progressive in the South.