Exclusive | Bronx mansion of late lyric poet Stanley Moss sees price cut by nearly $1 million just months after his death

Here’s your chance to own a page of New York literary history.

In the Bronx, a 10,000-square-foot mansion formerly owned by the late poet Stanley Moss is back on the market at a new — and discounted — price, The Post has learned.

The writer, who died in July at the age of 99, tried to sell the half-Gothic, half-Colonial Revival house in 2023 for $4.5 million, but it was an artist’s trick, said Leslie Hirsch of Christie’s International Real Estate for The Post.

“Now that Mr. Moss passed away and it’s being handled by his estate, they’re motivated to sell it,” said Hirsch, who listed the property, which is located in Riverdale, for $3.79 million on Friday.

Named the Henry L. Atherton Villa after its original builder, 5247 Independence Ave. is on perhaps the most famous street in the Riverdale Historic District, which has 34 residences. John F. Kennedy Jr. himself lived at 5040 Independence Ave. in the 1920s, according to historical records.

It’s unclear when Moss bought the home, though property records indicate it may have been in the 1980s.

While little has been renovated in recent decades, the three-story home is in good shape and could easily accommodate updates like central air conditioning, Hirsch said.

What it lacks in modernity, it makes up for in looks. A back deck and balcony look out across Riverdale Park, across the Hudson River to the Palisades, and a hole in the third-floor bathroom gives a perfect view of the George Washington Bridge.

“The sunsets are incredible,” Hirsch added.

Downstairs, a grand entrance leads to a drawing room with one of several original fireplaces.

Adjacent spaces include a large kitchen, a living room with glass doors to the veranda and an attached greenhouse. There are two libraries on this level, also with fireplaces, one of which served as Moss’s studio.

Much of his poetry was written in that room, with numerous references to the river, said Greg Miller, a fellow poet whom Moss called a “literary executor” of his will.

“The views of the Hudson just take your breath away, over and over again,” Miller said.

The pair met in 2013 after Miller answered an online ad posted by Moss seeking an editorial assistant. They spent countless hours, “surrounded by art,” in Moss’s study, Miller said.

Doubling as a dealer after making high-society friends on trips to Europe, Moss filled the home’s spacious walls and spare rooms with his personal collection.

“It was like walking into an art gallery,” Miller said of his time at home.

Heading upstairs, a split-level staircase with ample river views leads to nine bedrooms on the second and third floors, including a master suite with terrace access.

Five full baths and three half baths are found throughout the upper levels and the walkout basement.

In his younger years, the Moss family hosted parties with Robert Lowell, WH Auden and a who’s who of other artists and writers. A semicircular driveway and a covered porte-cochere and carport greeted guests of Moss and his wife, Jane Moss, a former Columbia University professor.

“A lot of famous behinds sat on that couch,” Moss liked to brag, Miller said.