"This has nothing to do with mid-Cambridge," said resident Mikki Ansin.

Zoning laws should have been able to keep the Swiss government out of a residential area, Schreiber said, as he held up a sign reading "Swiss House Does Not Belong Here."

"We can't understand why they would want it at this place," Schreiber said. "It's a crazy location."

Any building occupying the site should serve the neighborhood in some way, Schreiber said.

On top of it all, residents said they felt they were kept in the dark about the new tenant.

"We had no idea what was happening, and all of a sudden we were told that it would be a home for scientists to go back and forth," Ansin said. "I don't like it at all. I must say, it gives me a bad feeling toward the Swiss consulate."

Schreiber said he worried that Swiss House will worsen the parking problems that currently plague the area.

While Swiss House employees promised the zoning board that they would only need two parking spaces, Schreiber said he suspects they will use more.