That is brown; I am pretty sure it is painted, not aged cedar. Am I misunderstanding your question?

I think what you want is Red cedar, if you like it dark. The white cedar is what ages to grey and that is the coastal look. Yes, the dark patches are mold usually.

Based on what you say you like about cedar, Hardie and the like will be too uniform and perfect looking for what you want. I would go with cedar. It will last 50 years, if you buy a high grade cedar, install in properly, and treat it every 7 years or so. You can use oil or you could stain it or I guess (?) even paint it. If you want black spots then you are courting mold and then yes you are letting it rot. But short of that, if you want an uneven, authentic look, get red cedar and play around with choices of oils stain or even paint I suppose.

Here is a link that might be useful: You may have seen this already

mtnrdredux, I just started looking up stains for cedar siding, and that might be the way to go. While it doesn't have the variegated look, some of the colors still come awfully close to the moldy/mildew dark that I like so much, like this house below, which was stained with Cabot's solid stain in Bark. Pretty nice!

Here is a link that might be useful: [Cabot Solid Stain - Bark[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/trillium-links-and-lake-club-traditional-exterior-phvw-vp~4085028)

fenix409, you can just get primed Hardie and paint it whatever color you like. I've heard that some of the other fiber cement products have a more realistic texture, if that is what you're looking for.

Use red cedar clapboards not white cedar.

Weathering/bleaching stain is best used on 18" white cedar shingles with 5" to the weather.

I would consider a semi-transparent stain but more importantly, use a rainscreen system to create an air-gap behind the siding which could dramatically increase the siding's lifespan. Personally, I wouldnt use real wood without a rainscreen system.

Have you considered a dark stain as opposed to paint or untreated? It will darken your wood and allow some color and the wood texture to show through, but not need the maintenance involved with paint or the rot problems inherent in using no finish. We used a stain on a previous house, and it lasted for a number of years for us. I haven't checked with the new owners as to whether they have had to renew it, though I imagine that they probably have needed to since it's been more than 20 years. We used it on shiplap pine used horizontally like clapboards.

Thanks everyone!

Brian, I would definitely use a rainscreen! While I'm still in the "gathering ideas" stage of a build, I've come across info on rainscreens and would insist that the exterior be done that way.

I've also looked at stains - solid or semi-transparent and I guess I'm not wholly opposed. I did contact a woman who's house appears to be weathered, untreated clapboard to ask what they did and how they maintain it - she said they applied a light stain when they built the house in 1995, and they've been maintaining it with clear deck sealant. The wood is western red cedar. So I think this is probably what we'd do too - red cedar and a stain - since having it last is far more important than it looking exactly how I want, as long as it's close.

Thanks!

It's sure not an easy decision. I have a cottage, and some of our 35 year old untreated cedar shingle siding is damaged and needs repair because it was installed in areas in direct contact with the roof. Our contractor has suggested tearing the off the cedar and going with LPSmart siding, a composite, there is also Ecoshel, cedar shingle siding. I have researched at the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau, who have been extremely helpful and what I have come up with is...there is no replacement for real wood. If I repair the cedar which has been on for 35 years, I should get another 15 years. If I put on the composite it's lengevity is questionable, as with any newer

Some people think the cedar is just old and dirty looking, I love it

I'm also in the same arena as the OP, did you decide on anything yet? I love the shingle look, and I'm hesitant to use Hardie or vinyl imitations. In the end, nothing is maintenance free, and I see an awful lot of 100+ yr old homes with the original wood. One of my rental properties has stained cedar shingles, They're in rough shape (see photo) but I've never touched them since I bought it over 10 years ago. The house is over 100 years old. Right now I'm looking into Ecoshel and Shakertown, anyone have any experience with these?

Don't forget the cedar available to those builders on some of those historical houses was probably old growth; that might not be what you can find today, which is why you don't see the look as much.

Fenix409, what did you decide?