Stella Maris began in 1968 in a large house on the property purchased from the Peninsula Golf Club in 1965 by the Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus. The Order took possession of the property in June 1967 and the Sisters took up residence in December of that year. The original two-storey house on the site had been erected and occupied by the Parer family in the second half of the last century, and after changing hands several times, had been in the possession of the Peninsula Golf Club since 1922. Many extensions and alterations had taken place over the years, and further conversions were required to prepare the building for the opening of the school in 1968.