I guess our metal building is what you'd like to try to avoid, but I'll post it anyways. We did try to blend it some with our house except fell in love with the red. Honestly the cost and maintenance of doing metal was so much less than anything else we priced. At first we were going to do a board/batten with hardi, but that was 20K more than what we have now and would require painting still for maintenance. All our options used a metal building for the shell and had different options for the siding. It was important to us to have an overhang on the roof just like a house would and have windows etc. to minimize the look of a normal metal building. You could use landscaping etc. to minimize the look as well and pick colors that won't stick out. We added the same stone we have on the front of the house on the bottom of the building. We haven't gotten around to landscaping yet. The thing is the developer in our neighborhood didn't want to approve ours with metal siding which is why the board/batten was on the table, but then as they were framing ours a neighbor down the street put up a regular metal building without overhang, normal silver metal windows (we used same as on the house with divided lights), so we called the developer on it and he said well theirs sits behind a tree and isn't as visible. Hmmm you can't approve one thing for one person and not for another, so we saved ourself quite a bit thanks to our neighbor. BTW the tree is gone now as it fell in a windstorm we had.

I think the only negative review I read regarding Cedar Valley (CV) or Shakertown was from someone who didn't like the idea of plywood behind the cedar. CV has a fiberglass laminate built in, and the product seems pretty solid to me with added moisture protection. I think the price is almost $100 more per square than Ecoshel, though. My concern is when different materials are married at the factory. I feel the same for plumbing and windows. Different materials expand and contract differently, respond to water differently, etc. Thankfully CV is only mixing plywood with cedar, and a fiberglass laminate. The fiberglass must be their moisture barrier, but my concern is getting moisture out from between the two products. I'll look into how they weep moisture. Question: being that CV is thicker than traditional cedar shingles, did that cause any problems around window/door trim? In regards to cedar impressions: Don't be fooled by the photos, I drove by a lot and even knocked on some doors. I could tell from the car which houses were vinyl shingles. Customers said it was the best thing they did, no maintenance, 10 years old, still looks new, etc. But like you found out, after pricing, it ended up costing just as much as the real thing. I think you need to love the idea of less maintenance more than your love for the real thing. Or go with fiber cement and ignore any negative reviews. We have family in Nantucket and when I asked them what the life span of cedar was for them, they said at least 20 years. And that's with brutal salt air and no stains or paints (not allowed on the island). So with stain I could see maybe 30 years or more? I'm OK with that kind of ROI. I'm also in the home renovation business, so working on my house is a pleasure. I don't care so much for "maintenance free" (maybe I'll feel differently in 30 years), but I love the detail and warmth of real cedar, I'm familiar with it, it's forgiving, and natural, so won't sit in a land fill for 100 years. They say vinyl is recyclable, but I've never seen anyone recycle it. Let me know how your installation goes, it's cold up here, so siding will have to wait until spring. Blessings.

Chris your inspiration house has a large proportion of the natural cedar color to the blue and a lot of what we can see on that house in the photo is in shadow which makes a big difference. You're trying to choose a color for your house without a clean background - the yellow is a player in making colors look different. I took a picture of 2 colors from one of my paint decks for you - put them on a table on our porch that is similar in color to your cedar but when I compare the picture to the paint deck it's horribly off so I hesitate to post it for you. I may email it but just know that it's not representational at all. I'm looking at Benjamin Moore Everard Blue CW-575 and Wetherburn's Blue CW-580. these are from their Williamsburg collection, grayed blues with green in them. Even on the B/M website the colors are off on my computer. I'm not certain these are the *right* colors for your house but it's a slightly different direction that brings your setting into the mix and a place to start. Hale Navy is part of the Historical Color collection from B/M - that collection is a good place to be as well. The colors are dirtier which is good - what you don't want is a bright, clear color on your house. There are different ways to approach trim and house colors - they can be high contrast with crisp definition or lower contrast and more subtle transition. Neither one is better, they are just different looks but your trim will still be differentiated from the house body with less contrast. Are you planning to paint your eves and rake boards like the inspiration house?

KSC36, I agree there is nothing better looking than real cedar, but in 3 years it will either need to be re-sealed or be heading toward curling, bleaching, and rotting depending on what side of the buildings your on. The installation costs and maintenance for cedar on this summer camp is too much to take on. That cedar camp is beautiful though:) & I like the green trim with the natural wood- it’s really stunning! Beverly, I didn’t think to use board & batten in green and fake shake on top where you only see it from a distance- thanks!