My Wife has some property in the Mountains of North Carolina - very close to the parkway. Her property has a wonderful site to make a home; she wants a Victorian Cottage, I want a super-efficient home built into the side of the mountain ... is there a way we can do both? Have a Victorian front, with the rest built into the side of the mountain for heating/cooling efficiency? Also how would we get natural light pumped into the part of the house dug into the side of the mountian?

What your looking to do is not an easy nor inexpensive design. You can have any look you like on the exposed areas of the home. But the design of building into the mountain is quite complicated. You need an experianced design professional who has done this type of work before.
Before you worry about light into the back of the home, which is done by light tubes, you have a whole host of other issues to be concerned about.
1. How are you going to dig into the Mt. Is it stone or just soil?
2. How are you going to prevent water leakage into the home? Both on walls and ceilings?
3. How are you planning to contract this project out? There are plenty of good contractors who build stick built homes. Not to many who understand earth sheltered construction. What happens if they mess things up? Are you prepared to deal with these issues?

I do not want to talk you out of this project, But you must be prepared for all of the issues that will arrise when you start a project such as this.

Check into Google under Earth Sheltered Home Designs. Your best bet is to start here.