The Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., is one of Sweden's largest diplomatic missions with more than fifty employees.

A break in diplomatic relations occurred in 1973 when the then Ambassador Hubert de Bèsche and his newly elected successor Yngve Möller [sv] were declared undesirable in the United States as a result of a diplomatic crisis that followed Olof Palme's statement about the Hanoi bombings in December 1972.

Wachtmeister was eventually given the title Dean of the Diplomatic Corps (Doyen) as the longest serving Ambassador in Washington, D.C.[7] Other famous diplomats who held the Ambassador post are Jan Eliasson, Rolf Ekéus and Anders Thunborg.

The move to the Watergate complex represented a temporary solution to the embassy's space issues.

The new premises were rented primarily for five years, pending a decision on the possible construction of a new embassy building on the government-owned plot at Nebraska Avenue, where the residence was located.

[11] In May 1987, it was reported that the annual fee for the 2,500 square meters the embassy rented in the Watergate complex was 7,000,000 SEK.

[12] When the rent in the Watergate complex became too high, the embassy was moved to a couple of floors at 1501 M Street, N.W.

[15] The embassy covers a range of policy areas including security, defense, climate and sustainability, trade, democracy, human rights, gender equality, and culture.

[20][21] When the villa at 3900 Nebraska Avenue was purchased by the Swedish state in 1950 as the residence for the ambassador, the building on R Street was converted to serve solely as the chancery.

The building is about 6,400 square metres (69,000 sq ft) and is managed by the National Property Board of Sweden.

[32] The residence was decorated with Swedish classics, including rugs by Märta Måås-Fjetterström, Gustavian furniture, art by Stellan Mörner [sv], Olle Bærtling [sv; de; fr; nl; pl] and Fredrik Reuterswärd.

[32] On the night between February 20-21, 1973, eleven paintings, including works by Anders Zorn and Hugo Zuhr [sv; no], were stolen during a break-in at the residence on Nebraska Avenue.

The stolen paintings included, among others: Anders Zorn's "Braskulla," Hugo Zuhr's "Nämforsen," Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller's "Amor as Bacchus," Frans Timén [sv]'s "Vårvinter," Gunnar Svenson [sv]'s "Norrländskt landskap," Bertil Landelius [sv]'s "Röda lador," an unknown artist's portrait of Adolf Frederick, and a large painting of Charles XII.