LETTER : House mania

LESLEY GILLILAN damns us with faint praise by calling us the "lunatic fringe" of self-build ("The house that Geoff built", Review, 10 September). We at the Walter Segal Self Build Trust see ourselves as mainstream lunatics.

Jed and Maddy Lavell, whose house Ms Gillilan describes admiringly, are a fine example of what happens when this madness takes hold. But they would refute the notion suggested by your caption to a picture of a Segal house that it came "as a package". There isn't another house like it.

To get the full satisfaction of a dwelling designed to meet your own needs and desires, using the Segal approach to post-and-beam framing you virtually assemble your own kit. Call it DIY, call it knit-your-own- home - never mind the image, it works!

Brian Richardson

Walter Segal Self Build Trust

London NW1