Four years after opening its new embassy in Washington, D.C., Latvia has sold the old building that had served as the government-in-exile’s legation since the 1950s.

The residential property in the city’s Crestwood neighborhood sold in a Jan. 7 auction to the sole bidder for USD 460,250, according to a press release from the government-owned State Real Estate (Valsts nekustamie īpašumi). The buyers, according to the Latvian Embassy, are Jean Kornfeld and Miljodrag Miljanic.

The Latvian Legation acquired the property at 4325 17th Street N.W. in 1953.

The property had a 2009 assessed value of USD 778,010, which was projected to drop to USD 669,360 this year, according to District of Columbia property records. The assessed value is the one used to figure property tax. The actual market value typically is greater than the assessed value.

However, State Real Estate noted in its press release, given the economic situation in the United States, differences in the legal systems between the U.S. and Latvia, and the fact that the building has stood vacant for several years while its condition has deteriorated, the auction can be viewed as successful. The value of the property set by the real estate service was USD 460,000.

To save on the expense of sending representatives to the United States, according to the government real estate service, the auction took place via videoconference between Rīga and Washington.

The buyers have three weeks to complete the sale.

Kornfeld and Miljanic, according to the Latvian Embassy, plan to remodel the building but respect its historical significance.

Latvia in 2001 bought the new embassy building at 2306 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. for $2.5 million, according to District of Columbia property records. Known as the Barney Studio House, the building on Embassy Row was remodeled and opened in December 2005.

While Latvia’s economy is not much to boast about, the country still ranks pretty high in a list of the best places in the world to live, according to International Living magazine.

The Ireland-based publication, which according to its Web site reports on “the best places in the world to live, retire, travel, and invest,” ranked Latvia 40th out of 194 countries surveyed.

Both Lithuania, at 22nd, and Estonia, at 32rd, scored higher than Latvia.

The rankings are based on statistics garnered from a number of official sources and cover cost of living, leisure and culture, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, risk and safety, and climate. The editors of the magazine admitted to a Western bias in terms of what constitutes a high standard of living.

Topping the list was France.

“Its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world’s best health care,” the magazine’s editors said.

Australia was second and Switzerland third. The bottom three countries in the list were Sudan, Yemen and Somalia.

Latvia scored highest on the measure of freedom (92 out of a maximum possible score of 100), but lowest on its economy (40).

In last year’s index, Latvia was ranked 31st.