Last updated October 16, 2026
Clearwater Hills is one of Paradise Valley's most private addresses: a guard-gated association of custom estates climbing the slopes near Mummy Mountain, where lots are large, steep, and meant to stay unseen from the road. That terrain is the whole job. Before a single paver is set, the grade has to be held, water has to be routed through caliche that will not absorb it, and the plan has to clear the town's Hillside Building Committee. Here is how we approach hardscape on a Clearwater Hills lot.
What makes hardscaping a Clearwater Hills lot different?
Clearwater Hills is a guard-gated association on the hillside near Mummy Mountain, and almost nothing about it is flat. Lots run large and steep, driveways climb, and the estates are set well back and screened for privacy, so a hardscape project here is really a grading and access project first. Getting materials and equipment up a narrow gated drive takes planning, and staging has to respect both the guard gate and the neighbors. The payoff is a backyard with real elevation and mountain views, but every terrace, patio, and wall has to be engineered to sit on a slope rather than dropped onto level ground. On these lots we treat the grade as the design, not an obstacle to it.
Do hillside lots in Clearwater Hills need retaining walls and drainage?
Almost always, yes. A steep lot cannot become usable outdoor space until the grade is held, and in Paradise Valley that means engineered retaining walls on a compacted footing with drainage built in behind them. The desert makes this non-negotiable: caliche, the cement-hard calcium layer under our soil, sheds water instead of absorbing it, so a monsoon storm that drops an inch in an hour sends runoff straight down the hillside. We build gravel and perforated drains behind every wall so that water has a path out instead of building pressure that bows or cracks the wall, and we grade terraces so storm water moves away from the house, not toward it. On the tallest cuts we bring in engineering to meet code and the town's Hillside standards. The table below shows the hillside scope we typically plan for, with directional ranges confirmed on site.
| Element | Why it is needed on the slope | Directional range |
|---|---|---|
| Engineered retaining wall | Holds the grade and terraces the lot into usable levels | about 40 to 75 dollars per square face foot |
| Drainage behind walls | Routes monsoon runoff off the hillside, away from the house | scoped with the wall, varies by length |
| Travertine or paver terrace | Turns a held grade into usable living space | about 22 to 40 dollars per square foot |
| Grading & site prep | Shapes the slope and access before building | varies by lot steepness and access |
How do you add privacy and pool surrounds on a Clearwater Hills estate?
Privacy is the point of a Clearwater Hills lot, so we build it in with the hardscape: raised planter walls and terraces that screen sightlines, masonry that matches the home, and desert planting that fills in without blocking the view. Most estates here already have a pool, and the most-requested project is a travertine or light paver surround that ties the deck to the house and stays cool underfoot in a Zone 9b July. To be clear, Solterra builds the hardscape around your existing pool, not the pool itself: decks, coping, and surrounds, never the pool shell. Lighting gets the same care. Paradise Valley enforces a low-glare outdoor lighting ordinance, so we lay out low-voltage fixtures that light the paths, steps, and architecture without washing out the night sky or the mountain, which is exactly what the town's review wants to see.
Does a Clearwater Hills project need Paradise Valley Hillside approval?
Often, yes. In Paradise Valley, lots with slopes of 15 percent or more fall under the town's Hillside Building Committee, which reviews grading, drainage, retaining walls, and exterior lighting before work begins, and the Clearwater Hills association adds its own standards on top. Protected native plants matter here too: mature saguaros and palo verde on the lot are preserved and designed around, not removed. We plan hardscape with that review in mind from the first site visit, so the drawings double as a submittal package and approval keeps moving. It is the same approach we take on our Paradise Valley projects across Camelback and Mummy Mountain, where getting the plan right on paper is what keeps a hillside build on schedule.