Iran's embassy in Washington has been abandoned since 1979, but in recent weeks, flowers and pre-Islamic Revolution flags have been placed in front of the building.
It is a small gesture, but for a building that has sat empty for almost 50 years, it's probably the closest thing to a change the building has seen in quite some time.
The embassy was built in 1959, long before relations between the US and Iran deteriorated, and was once considered to be one of Washington's most luxurious.
Shortly after shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown, which was followed by the storming of the US embassy in Tehran and the capture of several American citizens, US president Jimmy Carter essentially kicked out Iran's diplomatic employees from Washington, New York and other cities.
Since then, no flag has been flown at Iran's embassy in Washington, and almost no one has seen inside.
Eric Parnes, an Iranian-American artist and photographer, is the exception to that rule. In 2013 he was able to take photos inside the building.
“The former Iranian embassy in Washington is not just an abandoned building,” Mr Parnes said. “For some, it feels like a tomb, a relic of a relationship so functional that many today can hardly believe it ever existed.”
He explained that for current generations, it is hard to fathom that visiting an embassy in Washington was once considered a major honour.
“It was a place where geopolitics and glamour shared the same reception rooms, hosting everyone from Elizabeth Taylor to Andy Warhol,” Mr Parnes said.
According to Article 45 of the UN's Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, even though the US forced Iranian officials to leave the embassy in 1979, Washington is required to make the building is maintained.
The article says host countries must “respect and protect the premises of the mission, together with its property and archives”. This means that Iran still technically owns the embassy.
Near the driveway, there are small signs that the US State Department's Office of Foreign Missions is keeping tabs on the property. The letters “USG” (United States Government) are painted on the pavement.
Mr Parnes recalled the amount of dust he saw inside the building when he walked through. It coated the chandeliers, framed photos of the ousted shah and the chairs stacked in empty rooms.
“I remain hopeful that the doors will open again and mark the beginning of something much deeper, not just a simple rewind to the past,” he said, referring to the current war.
“Admittedly it may not seem like the right time to be optimistic, but for the first time in nearly half a century optimism feels truly tangible, and I can only hope to be there when it becomes a reality.”
He also said he hoped that, at some point, Iranian officials would work in the embassy again.
Mabood Maghsoudlou, whose parents moved to the US from Iran during the Islamic Revolution, described the building as “the main party embassy of Washington DC”.
“That's where the caviar was served, that's where Elizabeth Taylor was as she dated the ambassador, and they were having fantastic parties there,” Mr Maghsoudlou explained.
Mr Maghsoudlou is a member of the Persian Society of Antiques and Collectables, and over several years he has acquired items that made it possible to recreate some of the embassy's rooms.
“Furniture-wise, painting-wise, doorknob-wise, tilework and anything I could get my hands on,” he recalled, adding that he had put his recreation of the embassy on public display for a time in Elliston, Virginia.
Mr Maghsoudlou said government officials had hired Iranian artisans to do decorative work inside and outside the Washington embassy when it was built.
The hand-cut geometrically placed tiles were “quite an extraordinary effort for those times to get that precise”, he said.
He joined Mr Parnes on the visit inside the building in 2013. “You walk in and you're just speechless,” he said.
Given the current war with the US, the idea of Iran again occupying an embassy in Washington seems premature, but Mr Maghsoudlou believes it is not impossible.
“This embassy was Iran's crown jewel,” he said. “Other Iranian embassies looked to it for guidance, and Iran's relationship with the US was so good at one point, and it's horrible now. How can we get this building back and running?”
He pointed out that although Iran has no embassy in Washington, it does have a presence with a consulate in a small office operated by Pakistan.
Inside that consulate, Mr Maghsoudlou said, there are historical items that he hopes to some day return to Iran's original embassy in Washington, along with the consulate workers.
