If you're buying Palm Beach real estate and are deciding on a home inspection, kudos on making a smart and important decision.  It’s always best to know what you’re buying beforehand and a home inspector does a very good job of highlighting potential problems or defects…at least those that can be readily seen by the naked eye.

It’s that whole “readily seen” thing that you should be aware of.  Home inspectors will obviously inspect the pipes and such of Palm Beach homes but you won’t necessarily see them checking underground pipes, septic tanks, or even getting on the roof to check for possible damages.  Particularly with roof repairs, you may wish to ask the inspector beforehand how he or she will evaluate it; roof repairs can be quite costly.

You may also wish to evaluate who will be inspecting your home if you’re using those recommended by your Palm Beach realtor.  There are a few cases where the inspector’s allegiance is more on assisting the agent with snagging a sale which means some defects may go overlooked.  On the other hand, reputable agents will suggest the best inspector in the area who will point out all defects even if it means potentially losing a sale.

Do your research thoroughly before settling on a home inspector, it could end up saving you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

A designated Palm Beach landmark since 1979, the house at 920 S. Ocean Blvd. is known as much for the family who built it as it is for its architectural style. Casa Eleda was built for one of America’s great families. Maurice Fatio designed the house for Mortimer L. Schiff (1877-1931) and his wife, Adele Neustadt Schiff (1879-1932), who took the house’s name from the reverse spelling of Adele Schiff’s first name. The architect’s daughter, Alex Fatio Taylor, always wondered about her father's inspiration for one of his most unique designs. “Don Curl once mentioned that while in Zurich he noticed a very similar-styled brick-and-stone-layered building near the Polytechnic where my father studied architecture,” Taylor said. “It might have been Judge [James R.] Knott who first called it the ‘ham sandwich’ house in one of his Brown Wrapper [newspaper] articles,” she said. “Far preferable than the ‘ham-and-cheese’ house, as some insist on calling it today.” The Mortimer Schiffs were part of the New York-Palm Beach cottage colony set and were among the earliest members of the Bath & Tennis Club, along with Mortimer Schiff’s business partner, Otto Kahn. In 1934, the Schiffs’ son, John, married Edith Brevoort Baker, the daughter of George Fisher Baker Jr., merging two of the nation’s formidable banking families. A director of numerous companies, Mortimer Schiff, as did his father, valued his charitable endeavors, serving as president of the Jewish Protectory Society, treasurer of the Hebrew Technical Institute, trustee of the United Hebrew Charities and, at the time of his death, president of the Boy Scouts of America. By AUGUSTUS MAYHEW Special to the Daily News Augustus Mayhew is a local historian who also writes for the ‘New York Social Diary.’