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

After more than seven decades of residence at a prominent property in Baltimore County, the School Sisters of Notre Dame are scheduled to leave their regional mother house, Villa Assumpta, this fall.

Nestled at the corner of North Charles Street and Bellona Avenue in Towson, Villa Assumpta is in transition to be sold by the SSND’s Atlantic-Midwest Province. While the sale is not imminent, according to Director of Communications Lauren Ciotti, 37 sisters who reside at the site are preparing for a new home.

The sisters will move to an updated wing at Stella Maris in Timonium.

“The sisters will all be together again in one communal space,” Ciotti said.

The wing will feature a chapel that will eventually include stained-glass windows relocated from the chapel at Villa Assumpta.

“It has been our pleasure and honor partnering with (provincial leader Sister Charmaine Krohe) and the SSNDs on this extraordinary effort and move,” said Crystal Hickey, executive director of Stella Maris. “We look forward to welcoming more sisters from this amazing community to Stella Maris and supporting their home, health and wellness needs on our campus.”

Ciotti said the SSND order is “entering into the process” of a sale for Villa Assumpta, and there is no “known buyer” yet. 

While the sisters will no longer be in residence, the council offices will continue to operate at Villa Assumpta. 

In 2021, after a four-year property stewardship study, the provincial council decided to close the Maria Health Care Center on the lower floors at Villa Assumpta at 6401 N. Charles St. Any sisters requiring care were moved to Stella Maris. 

The council then began considering options for the remaining sisters at Villa Assumpta, the order’s local home since 1954. 

The SSND will celebrate a private remembrance Mass Oct. 5 at 11 a.m. for Villa Assumpta with sisters, friends and associates. According to the sisters, the Mass will celebrate “a legacy of love and service; from its humble beginnings to its noble end.”

The chapel is not being decommissioned yet, however. However, Masses will not be held there regularly because the sisters are not in residence, according to Ciotti. 

The sisters have a lengthy history of service in the Baltimore area, operating Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson and the now-closed Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore as well as founding and serving at what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

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