William H. Moore House

4 East 54th Street | Midtown | built 1900

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1899
December 14
William Earle Dodge Stokes sells his unfinished mansion before it opens
Stokes hired McKim, Mead & White to build an Italian Renaissance-style mansion as a gift for his young wife, Rita Acosta, after demolishing two brownstones he had bought for $140,000. The marriage collapsed before the house was finished, and Stokes sold it on December 14, 1899, for $325,000; Rita filed for divorce four months later.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1900
March
William and Ada Moore move into the completed mansion
Financier William H. Moore and his wife Ada bought the unfinished house and moved in starting March 1900. The five-story, 23,000-square-foot limestone residence had 21 fireplaces along with marble and mahogany interiors.
Source: Wikipedia
1967
January 11
The city designates the mansion an official landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the former Stokes-Moore mansion an official landmark on January 11, 1967. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places five years later, on March 16, 1972.
Source: Wikipedia
1993
Banco di Napoli restores the mansion, adding two hidden floors
After decades of use as commercial offices, Banco di Napoli purchased the mansion from the government of Indonesia in May 1993 for $12.8 million. Its restoration preserved original details such as the marble staircase and stained glass while inserting two additional floors concealed within the facade.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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