File:Stephenson-Fisher-Johnson House, Buffalo, New York - 20210903.jpg

English: The Stephenson-Fisher-Johnson House, 960 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York, September 2021. One of the oldest extant buildings within the locally-listed Linwood Historic District, the house was built in 1853 and, at the outset, was at the center of a large semirural estate planted with gardens and berry bushes. With its square proportions and a mansard roof pierced by a trio of handsomely pedimented dormers, it's a particularly early example of the Second Empire style, but early-20th century modifications (namely the monumental two-story Doric portico and the fanlights above the windows) added Colonial Revival elements to the design. In the early decades of its existence, the house counted as its residents some of Buffalo's most interesting and prominent citizens. First came:

• Thomas Stephenson (1806-1883), a Yorkshire-born jeweler who shared his downtown storefront with musical instrument dealer George A. Prince. Stephenson struggled in his own trade, but his business partnership with Prince beginning in 1848 made him wealthy: together they founded George A. Prince & Co., manufacturer of an improved variety of reed organ that had been patented by former Prince music shop employees Jeremiah Carhart and Elias Parkman Needham, and thanks to which Buffalo was briefly known as "Melodeon Capital of the World". Stephenson lived in the house until 1867, when it was sold to:

• Colonel George S. Fisher (1823-1895), a Boston-born Mexican War hero-turned-attorney and diplomat who bought the house just after his return from a stint as U.S. Consul General in Japan serving under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Fisher's posting was successful, but the Great Yokohama Fire of November 26, 1866 - which destroyed most of the diplomatic district of that city, including the U.S. Consulate building and with it all of the personal belongings of Colonel Fisher and his family - brought it to a premature end. Colonel Fisher's stay in Buffalo was brief but eventful: he gave frequent lectures on Japanese culture and his estate hosted frequent visits from ambassadors and delegations, but in 1869 he was called back to Washington by President Grant, who would later post him at the consulate in Beirut. After Colonel Fisher's departure, the house passed into the hands of:

• James M. Johnson (1826-1901), a bookbinder who first was junior partner in the firm of Howard & Johnson, which later merged with Joseph Warren & Co. (owner of the Buffalo Courier) to form the Courier Company, which not only continued to publish its namesake newspaper but also grew into one of the world's largest printing, engraving and lithographic establishments. Johnson lived in the house for eight years before moving to Chicago with his family in 1877.

The building was converted in the 1970s to medical offices.