On January 8, 1962, Mario Bagno, an entrepreneur known for constructing roads, highways, and airport runways, signed a contract with the Anghileri and Verga families to buy the entire village of Consonno for 22.5 million Italian liras. This amount was enormous at the time, equaling about forty-five years of wages for a typical worker. The village, located in the commune of Olginate, had only sixty residents who lived primarily by cultivating chestnuts and other crops. However, the villagers did not own their homes or the land they farmed, as the entire village was owned by the company Immobiliare Consonno Brianza, controlled by the Verga and Anghileri families. After purchasing the village, Bagno began demolishing the old structures, leaving only the church of San Maurizio, the rectory, and the cemetery intact. Starting in 1965, he launched a six-year project to transform Consonno into an Italian version of Las Vegas. His vision included a Plaza Hotel, multiple restaurants, a ballroom called Salone delle Feste, a medieval-style gate, a commercial gallery with an oriental minaret, a shooting range on Mount Mario, a Greek-style colonnade, Arab-style passageways, a Chinese garden, and a thirty-meter-tall minaret. He also added a "toilet missile," a novelty attraction featuring artillery, and a panoramic train for tourists. To improve the views from his luxury hotel, Bagno ordered the demolition of the old village and used explosives to reshape the surrounding landscape, leveling hills and altering the terrain. This approach faced criticism from local officials and architects, who viewed the mix of architectural styles and landscape changes as an eyesore and an architectural abomination. For a time, the project appeared to succeed, drawing visitors for parties, weddings, and weekend outings, particularly among the Milanese elite. However, in October 1976, a landslide—likely caused by the extensive modifications to the terrain—destroyed the only road leading to Consonno. This logistical issue sparked a dispute between Bagno and the local government over who should pay for road repairs, and the road was never rebuilt. As a result, Consonno became isolated from the outside world. In 1981, Bagno tried to restore part of the Grand Hotel Plaza to convert it into a retirement home, which operated until 2007. Bagno died in 1995, and just two months after the retirement home closed, an illegal rave called "Summer Alliance" in July 2007 caused significant damage to the remaining structures. Bagno’s heirs attempted to sell the site in 2014 for twelve million euros but found no buyers. Today, the ruins of Consonno are occasionally used for commercial film shoots, including advertisements for brands like Levi's and BMW. A rusted banner still displays the promotional slogan "At Consonno, the sky is bluer," a striking contrast to the cracked concrete remains of the once-grand structures.