In October, 1916, Mother Mary Teresa purchased a home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and in early 1917, the first sisters moved in.

Today, our Motherhouse no longer rests upon it's former dirt road, but remains a rich testimony to the efforts of the Carmelite Sisters who have completely refurbished it, yet at the same time, preserving it's historical value in the neighborhood.

In 1920, Wauwatosa welcomed its first American Postulant from the Milwaukee area. Around 1923, after the fourteen homes in the U.S. and Canada became a separate province, Wauwatosa was made the first American Provincial Motherhouse. In 1930, a large new building was constructed and soon it was bulging with seventy homeless boys. During the difficult war years, the sisters prayed during nocturnal adoration for the resumption of peace in the war-torn world. The religious family in Wauwatosa continued its growth spurt, and a new Motherhouse and Novitiate was dedicated by Archbishop Meyer in 1955. This edifice remains the Motherhouse for the Northern Province and is a tribute to the faith and sacrifice that our pioneer sisters contributed to advance the cause of Cannel D.C.J. in America.

Since the 1960's, significant growth has occurred in the educational provisions for our sisters-in preparing them to meet the challenges of dealing professionally with the demands of Nursing Home regulations and Childcare Treatment procedures. In more recent years, the Motherhouse has been thoroughly remodeled and renovated in order to provide a more comfortable and spiritual atmosphere for the sisters and their visitors.

Just as children, when they are grown, never forget the home of their childhood and look forward to returning to it as often as possible, so the sisters of our Northern Province await with joy, their "returns" to the cradle of their religious life-their "homecoming" to the Motherhouse that once nurtured them and trained them in the love of Jesus and His Blessed Mother-and that gave them their foundation in becoming a true daughter of Mother Foundress-a Carmelite Sister of the Divine Heart of Jesus.