Thanks guys...
Real cedar -- first, my understanding is that re-sealing the cedar would cost a few thousand, every few years. I like the look, but not that much. I'm pretty sure these original cedar shingles were not maintained, and they still have been made to last 50 years (but really, were probably ready to replace around 40 years). I've also been told that the quality of cedar shingle products has decreased over the years, so the older cedar has lasted longer than the new stuff would. That is, old shingles were from older growth trees, that had more resin/tannin in them, and thus were more durable products. New cedar products are generally from newer growth trees that aren't as mature, and don't carry that benefit. If we had the cedar replaced today with new shingles... it might just wear out a lot faster.
Cypress -- thanks for the suggestion, Joe. That looks really nice, but I don't think we'd do the entire house in wood. Another idea is to mix materials, and do most of it in one material, with accents of another material, such as real wood. Such as cypress. I can handle a small amount of real wood to maintain.
And yes, I totally get the analogy between the siding and the types of tubas I pursue. Makes sense to me, and real wood is an ideal look. However, a few things here that are different: 1) Mrs. Bort also is making this decision
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
and 2) we sort of want to play into the neighborhood norms a bit as well; I'd expect to be in this house for around 15 years, and when it's time to sell, I don't want to deal with too many siding issues. Also, composite siding seems to be the expectation in the area, so we have to be mindful of that as well. It's a neighborhood with high property values and lots of older homes. Probably 50% or more of the sales are teardown/rebuild to get a new house in an established neighborhood. But our house is pretty cool, and we chose to preserve it instead, while modernizing it to get with the times.