For years, it has sat on the corner of 16th and Fuller Streets NW, a mansion whose regal trappings have been hidden under layers of neglect. But now, the residence that was once used as a home and office for the Spanish ambassador is seeing new life.

Over the last two months, large signs advertising a Spanish photo exhibit at the Katzen Arts Center appeared along the residence’s facade; this week, the long-ignored front lawn was mowed and new flowers planted. And on September 16, the folks at BYT are pairing with the Spanish embassy to launch the fall/winter Spanish cultural program. (Sorry, it’s sold out.)

All of the recent moves point to a full renovation of the mansion, which was built in the 1920s and originally intended for use by the U.S. vice president. (Fun fact: the site of the Swiss ambassador’s current residence was also once a home used for the VP.) The Spaniards used it until 2004, when the ambassador moved to what the Post called “a country estate” along Foxhall Road.

In July 2009, architecture firm Karn Charuhas Chapman & Twohey won the contract to renovate the space, which promises to be quite the cultural center:

The Center (old Residence portion of the project) will have 30,000 sf of open interior spaces that will contain main exhibition spaces and a kitchen /café on the ground level, with office space and a media resource center on the first floor. The separate Chancery building will house a black box theater on the first floor (traditionally a large open room with black walls and a flat floor) for live theater and concerts, with the upper floors containing additional office space.

According to the firm’s plans, the renovations will be done by 2012. Once it’s done, the new Spain/U.S. House will join the Mexican Cultural Institute (located next door; are awkward colonial/post-colonial cultural battles likely?) and the Italian Cultural Institute as government-sponsored houses of foreign culture.

We put in a call to both the firm and the Spanish embassy; neither has responded so far. We’ll update if they do.