Architecture in colonial America was the work of amateurs. Most buildings were built to serve practical functions rather than aesthetic ideals. The cost of building materials made it difficult to execute elaborate designs and purely decorative ornaments. In the third quarter of the eighteenth-century, more public buildings, usually churches, were built and their builders showed more interest in aesthetics. Because such projects were so infrequent, it is difficult to identify any architect who achieved a career in the colonies without devoting most of his time to other forms of work. Given the scarcity of architectural projects, it should not be surprising that colonial architecture tends to be noteworthy less for originality than for novelty. Most colonial buildings imitated particular buildings in London. St. Paul's Chapel in New York City, for example, imitated the interior of London's St. Martin in the Fields.

Domestic Architecture.

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