School Sisters of Notre Dame sell Villa Assumpta to Baltimore senior housing nonprofit

Villa Assumpta, the longtime regional motherhouse for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, will be redeveloped into a nonprofit continuing care community for senior living.

Roland Park Place will renovate the Villa Assumpta site at Charles Street and Bellona Avenue in Towson, converting it into an independent living community with additional services. President and CEO Sam Guedouar said plans are evolving but will remain sensitive to the heritage of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

“We’re really looking to partner with somebody who can help carry on the legacy of the School Sisters,” said Lauren Ciotti, director of communications for the religious community’s Atlantic-Midwest Province. “We’re grateful to have found another partner who can help us leave a legacy.”

Guedouar said Roland Park Place purchased Villa Assumpta from the School Sisters of Notre Dame Atlantic-Midwest Province for $12.5 million. The sisters did not confirm the sale price, citing policy.

He said the sisters will maintain an office on the property for now, with future discussions planned about any continuing presence.

The province said proceeds from the sale will support the ongoing care of retired sisters.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame bought the property in 1937 to house its novitiate program for training sisters. It has served as the provincial motherhouse since 1954.

Both Guedouar and Ciotti confirmed that 37 sisters relocated from Villa Assumpta as planned in September 2025.

“All of the sisters were missioned to move to Stella Maris (in Timonium), to the new home or to the new location or a new ministry,” Ciotti said, adding that Roland Park Place is one of three buyers of properties the order has recently sold across the United States and Canada. “It was just a way that we could care for them in this next step. It is done out of faithfulness, out of obedience and love, knowing and caring for them, and giving them the best care moving forward.”

Guedouar said construction and renovations are expected to begin in fall 2028, with the community opening in 2030. Roland Park Place currently operates a senior living campus on West 40th Street in Baltimore and has a waiting list of about 160 prospective residents.

“The chapel, the convent and the mansion will stay,” Guedouar said, noting that plans for those spaces have not yet been determined. The future of the remaining property will depend on the outcome of the current planning phase.

Ciotti said numerous religious artifacts and stained-glass windows have already been moved to Stella Maris.

“There are two stained-glass windows of our foundress. They were moved over to Stella Maris to be with the sisters,” Ciotti said.

All other sacred items have been distributed to sponsored ministries across the province. Ciotti said the transition has been emotional for many sisters as they let go of a place central to their community’s history in the region.

“It’s very emotional when you have to sell your home in a place that you’ve lived for 70 years. I think it’s been a challenge for them,” Ciotti said. “It is emotional, but it’s also something that they accept, to go where they’re called.”

The School Sisters of Notre Dame founded Notre Dame Preparatory School, now located in Towson, Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore and the now-closed Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore.

Also read: SSND’s Villa Assumpta residents plan move to new Stella Maris facility

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