It's called Paradise Valley for a reason. Here, in the desert southwest community on the outskirts of Phoenix, where humidity is low and there are more sunny days than rainy ones, sits Mummy Mountain, a spot where nature provides unspoiled views of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Camelback Mountain to the north, and the lights of downtown Phoenix to the south.

Those unspoiled views are exactly what Scottsdale-based architect Nick Tsontakis wanted to preserve when he designed the edgy, 16,370-square-foot manta-ray-shaped home on Mummy Mountain.

"I wanted to be able to capture views on both north and south sides of the property," he explains to Weather.com.

Capturing those views wouldn't be easy. Local building codes, along with the existing topography of the mountain, prevented him from building vertically.

"This meant that I would somehow have to 'infuse' the house into the mountain in order to create enough space," he says.

Parts of the home would be created from boring tunnels and rooms into the structure of the mountain, including a tunnel that would connect wings on the lower level, as well as a 2,000-square foot entertainment space.

(MORE: A New Breed of Seaside Homes?)

"The overall form of the home is reminiscent of a manta ray," the architect says. He says the shape is more of a happy accident than something be planned. "From the air the structure looks like it’s swimming on top of the mountain."

Tsontakis is sharing his designs with Weather.com. You can check them out in the slideshow above. You can also learn more about the home on his website, and see more site plans at paradisevalleymansion.com.

{"id":"wxn3","type":"wxnode_content_well","schema_version":"1.1.12","contentwell":"\n

<\/div>\n\n\n