Consonno: Italy June 2017

The Consonno resort was the brainchild of Mario Bagno. During the 1960s Italy was experiencing an economic boom and Bagno saw an opportunity to capitalise on the new lifestyle.

Set high up on the hills Bagno purchased every home in Consonno and the demolition work started, other than a few homes and the church the whole village was flattened.

A blank canvas to rebuild a new money making haven building a mini Las Vegas style complex to draw in the new found wealth from Milan. There were big plans including a luxury hotel restaurants and a ballroom. Due to the remote location and being hindered by landslides the construction work here was slow. The resort was eventually opened before completion. The guests didn't appreciate the ongoing building work during their visits, instead of a beautiful haven that was promised it was more like a building site.

Known as the "City Of Toys", construction was ongoing until the main road was washed away during a landslide in 1976. The remote location meant only one access to the site was fundamental to bring in the guests, workers and construction materials. This signified the end to the not very successful project.

During the 1980s Count Bagno tried to revive Consonno as a retirement home. It seemed a more viable venture to have permanent residents instead of relying on regular visitors and as you can see, I can think of far worse places to spend my last days.

Once again an incomplete project opened but sadly Bagno passed away in 1995 and the heirs to the estate would not invest any more time or money into the care home. Due to the lack of residents and funding the Consonno care home closed in 2007. Shortly after the closure a huge number of party goers turned up vandalising the site during a three day rave. This was the final nail in the coffin for Consonno and it has been abandoned ever since.

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