I READ your article on 93 Union Terrace (The Press, October 25) with great interest as the house was owned by my parents, Bob and Mary Beilby, from 1950 until Bootham Park Hospital compulsorily purchased it in 1972.

It was a lovely house with an elegant staircase and bannister that curved down three flights from the attic. The sitting room had a large bay window overlooking the garden, and a grand marble fireplace.

Flooding was always a problem and in the early 1950s we returned from holiday to find three feet of water in the basement (our kitchen) and the poor cat perched on top of a cupboard.

Although my brother, Nick, and l had a very happy childhood there, it was not a convenient house to run, being built for a family with servants downstairs.

Lifestyles are different now, and perhaps it should be rebuilt with this in mind, although obviously the facade would need to remain.

Myra Coleman, Plainville Lane, Wigginton, York.