The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(21)H(23)NO(4), contains two crystallographically independent mol-ecules A and B. In both mol-ecules, the piperidine-4-one rings adopt a distorted twist-boat conformation. The formyl group at position 1, the methoxy-phenyl ring at position 2 and the methyl group at position 3 are attached equatorially. The meth-oxy phenyl ring at position 6 has an axial orientation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 55.27 (8)° in mol-ecule A, and 55.29 (8)° in mol-ecule B. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked by weak C-H⋯O inter-molecular hydrogen-bond inter-actions. In addition, weak C-H⋯π inter-molecular inter-actions involving the benzene rings at positions 6 and 2 of mol-ecule B are also found in the crystal structure.