Lafever wrote five
pattern books that were influential in spreading his
Greek Revival style, most notably "The Modern Builder's Guide" (1833) and "The Beauties of Modern Architecture" (1835). The Greek Revival
Government Street Presbyterian Church in
Mobile, Alabama is a
National Historic Landmark that was designed using many of the latter book's detailed guidelines. That church's tall steeple, like the steeple of Lafever's First Presbyterian Church in Sag Harbor, was destroyed in a hurricane. Other historic structures built using Lafever's designs include
Rose Hill Mansion, a National Historic Landmark in western New York, which was built in the style of a two-story Greek temple with
Ionic columns in 1837. Two mansions in the
Boston Post Road Historic District— the
1838 Peter Augustus Jay House and Lounsberry— were built using Lafever's designs, and greatly resemble illustrated plates found within Lafever's books.
Rose Glen, an antebellum plantation house near
Sevierville, Tennessee, was modeled after Lafever's "Design for a Country Villa," which appeared as the frontispiece in both ''The Modern Builder's Guide
and The Beauties of Modern Architecture''. Lafever did not confine himself to a single style. His
St. James' Church, New York on James Street near Madison Street in Manhattan (1837) is
Greek Revival as is his building for Sailors' Snug Harbor, his
First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor) (1844) is
Egyptian Revival, his brownstone
St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church at Montague and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights (1847) is
Gothic Revival and his Church of the Holy Apostles at Ninth Avenue and 28th Street in Manhattan (1848–1854) is Romanesque/Italianate. ==Books by Minard Lafever==