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To the Editor: 

In her June 14 letter to the Daily Planet, Becky O'Malley used the newspaper's error in spelling her name to launch a defense of the historic value of vernacular buildings, which I had not questioned in my letter of June 12. The question I wished to pose to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, represented by Commissioner O'Malley was whether the faithfulness of a building to its original appearance affected its elegibility for an official designation. I thought O'Malley's position, as reported in the Daily Planet's article on June 5 on the Touriel/Darling Flower shop, was that alterations to the physical appearance of a building add to its historic appearance. If so, why protect our historic buildings from alterations if, in doing so, we reduce their historic value? 

Commissioner O'Malley did not answer that question. (And I hope her name is spelled correctly this time.) 

Sally B. Woodbridge 

Berkeley