Big tech is taking over our world and the worlds beyond, and few know this better than Lauren DeFlores, PhD. The MIT grad has been a NASA systems engineer for years, working out of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. From there, DeFlores monitors her robot children — Curiosity and Perseverance among them. The New Jersey native helped engineer those rovers, and has kept a watchful eye on their findings as they traverse Mars.
Beyond her own scientific expertise, DeFlores is also the former wife of tech tycoon Ryan Hudson. While married, the couple lived in a two-bedroom condo in La Cañada Flintridge, a sleepily affluent suburb of Los Angeles. And during their marriage, in 2012, Hudson and George Ryan co-founded Honey, which grew to become the world’s favorite coupon-clipping online browser extension. In 2019, Hudson and Ruan sold Honey to PayPal in an all-cash, $4 billion deal, the largest-ever acquisition of a Los Angeles-based tech company.
So even though she and Hudson divorced way back in 2015, it’s not really surprising that a great deal of that PayPal cash appears to have trickled down into the DeFlores coffers. Enough cash, it seems, to put her in the mood for a big residential upgrade. Though she still owns a (smaller) nearby home, DeFlores has splashed out $9 million for an all-new mansion in her longtime neighborhood. The deal is one of the biggest prices ever paid for a La Cañada home, and records indicate DeFlores does not have a mortgage on the property.
Janice McGlashan at Coldwell Banker Realty held the listing; Thomas Atamian of Compass repped the buyer.
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Image Credit: Zillow Custom built in 2017 for a local businessman and his wife, the “Nantucket Cape Cod” mansion sits atop a promontory in the poshest pocket of town. From the backyard, spectacular views sweep the rugged mountains in Angeles National Forest.
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Image Credit: Zillow Just beyond the attached three-car garage and substantial motorcourt, which themselves are securely guarded by big gates, the front door opens into a double-height foyer with a checkerboard black-and-white-pattern marble floor.
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Image Credit: Zillow To the immediate right of the entryway lies a living room equipped with a fireplace and coffered ceiling, to the immediate left is a chandelier-equipped dining room wrapped in a neutral wallpaper.
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Image Credit: Zillow All told, the elegant home has six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, one three-quarter bath and a powder room in more than 9,600 square feet of light-filled living space.
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Image Credit: Zillow The center hall leads past a curved staircase to the open kitchen, which flaunts marble countertops, top-of-the-line appliances and a butler’s pantry.
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Image Credit: Zillow Between the kitchen and family room are both a casual dining nook and a swanky wet bar with seating of its own.
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Image Credit: Zillow In the family room, collapsible glass doors open to a covered loggia, and there are indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Built-in window seats, exposed ceiling beams, stone accents and rustic-look hardwood floors add character.
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Image Credit: Zillow There’s also a cozy and effortlessly chic libary packed with books, real books.
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Image Credit: Zillow The primary bedroom is actually located on the main floor, an atypical choice, and its carpet and ceiling fan are a bit of a design throwback. Four identical windows drink in the views.
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Image Credit: Zillow The all-white primary bathroom has heated floors, a steam shower and built-in soaking tub. The suite additionally offers dual walk-in closets and a fireplace.
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Image Credit: Zillow There are four additional bedroom suites upstairs, plus a rooftop balcony and fully-contained guest apartment with its own kitchen.
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Image Credit: Zillow The estate also sports a finished basement level. All the cool cats and kittens will be down there — filling up at the wet bar, playing on the pool table, watching a movie in the screening area, exploring the wine cellar or working off the calories in the home gym.
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Image Credit: Zillow Also down there are a convenient bathroom and additional storage closets.
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Image Credit: Zillow The nearly-flat lot spans a relatively generous 1.1 acres. Out back are resort-style amenities aplenty — a bocce ball court, firepit, putting green, infinity-edged swimming pool with inset spa, and a full outdoor kitchen servicing the aforementioned loggia.
And there are yet more lavish amenities, including a high-tech LifeSource soft water system for the whole house, a backup generator for power outages and Savant and Lutron home automation systems, which allow the homeowner to remotely control and monitor the property’s lights, sound sytem and security cameras from afar.
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Image Credit: Zillow DeFlores isn’t the only Honey-associated face enjoying new real estate pastures. Her former husband, Ryan Hudson, has been on a real estate tear over the past couple years — he’s so far bought a $15.8 million Miami Beach mansion and a $3.7 million modern home in the Hollywood Hills. And a few months ago, he laid out another $4.1 million for a decidedly idiosyncratic 70-acre ranch in Tujunga, Calif., only about a 15-minute drive from DeFlores’ new La Cañada spread.
Honey co-founder George Ruan has been busy, too, paying $60 million for an unfinished mansion in Bel Air (and later buying the $18 million house next door.)