Once Grand, Now Bedraggled

Other countries plan to reclaim their properties. That includes Malawi, which left an Embassy Row townhouse after a 2003 fire. Congo vacated its New Hampshire Avenue embassy in 2004 because of disrepair. Renovations were planned, but a war that claimed almost 4 million lives made the project less than a priority. Now the embassy says it is ready to hire a contractor. "This is not an intention, this is a fact," Ambassador Faida Mitifu said.

The Liberian government is raising at least $200,000 to refurbish a diplomatic residence that has graffiti -- MAGIC 2 and CHE NUK -- scrawled on its exterior. A previous renovation project stalled, but the Liberians hope to begin work by year's end on the Colorado Avenue house, which is down the street from their embassy, said Edwin Sele, the deputy chief of mission. Sele said he plans to move in when the work is done. "I can see it from my office window," he said.

A few blocks away, on leafy Crittenden Street NW, Togo's former ambassador lived in a three-story house until 2005, when he traveled to Africa on home leave. His planned return was aborted when the country's president died and Togo's new leader appointed the ambassador as chief of staff, said Joseph Sala, an embassy official.

With all of the changes, mundane details were lost. The ambassador never told the post office that he had moved, so his mail piled up. A burst pipe flooded the basement. The grass grew unruly. After neighbors complained, embassy staff went to tidy up. "You don't like to have thought that you let it go," Sala said. "It's a reflection on the country of Togo."

Although the number of vacant buildings owned by foreign countries is relatively few, they sometimes draw added attention because they're in affluent areas. Inevitably, District officials and community leaders complain to a higher authority on such matters: the State Department, which "works to resolve upkeep issues through diplomatic channels," spokesman Darby Holladay wrote in an e-mail.

The United States, he wrote, can withdraw a property's diplomatic status, a sanction he described as "rare." He declined to specify when it has been imposed.

Although District officials say that the State Department is responsive, contacting it does not always yield satisfying results, as Andrea Gibbs discovered after calling about the Liberians' house. Gibbs, who lives across the street from the property, said she was advised to contact Liberia directly.

Steve Gifford has found a bright side to living next to an eyesore -- in his case, Congo's former embassy. In exchange for Gifford and his partner spending $200 a month cutting the grass and cleaning up, Congo granted that most elusive of city perks: parking in the embassy's driveway. "Everybody wins," Gifford said.

If vacant embassies can be unsightly, renovations aren't always the salve. Niger is spending $500,000 on its residence, which has been vacant for the past year and in disrepair for longer. The construction debris on the front lawn is only part of what annoys the neighbors. There's also the tarp-covered pool that breeds mosquitoes that swarm the adjoining back yard, said Alice Sessions, who lives next door with her husband, Bill, the former FBI director.

But what especially offends her is the new A-frame roof over the entrance and a set of two-story-tall concrete columns. In an interview, she struggled to refrain from passing aesthetic judgment. "You just live with it," she said, her exasperation melting into resignation.

Some governments eventually unload their properties.

Developer Jim Abdo bought Ghana's vacant diplomatic residence -- rain was "cascading" through the roof when he visited, he said -- and turned it into his home. He paid a consultant to fly to Nigeria to persuade the country's leaders to sell him their shell of a mansion in Massachusetts Heights.

Abdo paid $3.2 million for the estate, including a family of raccoons scampering about its four floors. After a massive renovation that included a new swimming pool, he is selling the mansion for $6.95 million.

The raccoons have moved out.