On farmland purchased from Radnor Township around 1893, Lincoln Godfrey designed and built an estate which he called Hillsover. In 1926 Clarence Henry Geist, the Philadelphia utility magnate, bought the estate, remodeled it at great expense and renamed it Launfal.The Geist Family enjoyed only twelve years on the property before Mr. Geist's death in 1938 and Mrs. Geist finally sold the estate to the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1943.

The Geist family employed fourteen full-time gardeners to maintain the extensive estate which would later accommodate, with much of its original beauty, Notre Dame's modern educational facility. The Sisters of Notre Dame have made every effort to maintain the aesthetic aspects of the grounds even when a student body of over four hundred students necessitated expansion. The mansion building, Alumnae Hall, still houses classrooms for the English and Foreign Language departments as well as the Chapel. Cuvilly Hall was built in 1967 and a second floor added in 1998 to provide more classrooms, technology and science laboratories and guidance offices. Saint Julie Hall was built in 1985. During the summer of 1996, two buildings on the North Campus were completely renovated. The barn was converted into a Religion Center, housing five classrooms, an office and a small meeting room. The East Cottage, adjacent to the Religion Center, provides space for the Advancement departments.

Recent additions have further enhanced the Academy's facilities. A generous donor gave the school the beautiful Josephine Connelly Arts Center where art, music and photography classes are held. The architect took great pains to mirror the architectural style of the mansion. The original Geist greenhouse, after housing a number of facilities, had been converted into the Bascome-Trexler Fitness Center and now houses the dance studio. Most recently, thanks to our capital campaign, campus improvements start at the entrance gate, wind around the repositioned driveways and parking areas, and end at the beautiful Harron Family Building which features the Connelly Library, Aimee Willard Gymnasium with two full-sized basketball courts and a fitness room with the latest equipment. A total of seven additional classrooms, were built to meet the projected needs of the Academy’s curriculum.