The Italian Embassy in Washington is the embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. The original Italian iplomatic mission to the United States following Italian unification was founded by Baron Saverio Fava. The current chancery is located just off Embassy Row at 3000 Whitehaven Street, NW. The structure is quite new, being built in 1996. Previously the embassy had been based at 16th and Fuller in an ornate and historic, but small, facility. Several of the embassy's offices had to be based elsewhere in Washington and it was thus decided to build a new chancery. In 1972 the Italians had bought a lot from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a piece of the campus of the neighboring Center for Hellenic Studies. The new building was designed by Piero Sartogo Architetti and construction began in 1996. The old embassy was sold to a developer who intends to turn it into condominiums.