Painting it would be your easiest alternative. Trying to salvage the stain will require a lot of time consuming work. But if it's in too much disrepair I wouldn't invest a whole lot of $$ into it. But replacement might not be a feasible alternative budget wise I'm sure.

As a home handy person I pressure cleaned the wood, it was slow but brings the dirt and oils out of the grain. I live in Australia, we have a product that is environmentally friendly, paints on and dries like a clear lacquer bringing a rich cedar red back to the timber.

Would pressure washing remove the stain enough? This house is too large to do anything too labor intensive. The repair work is just piece work. Not enough to replace the siding.

I have a very large home, 60 x 45 feet. I cleaned it in wall sections. The water pressure lifts the grain of the timber, it does take several goes and you have to blast about 4 inches from the timber to have effect. Try in a hidden spot to see if it works for you. This was the product I used in Australia http://www.qtf.com.au/products/exterior/aquaoilrange/gold.html

I hope robyns method works for you. where will most of the patching be done? if not on the front, I would do the washing then stain the new patches. if the color match is not perfect, so be it. once you paint, which I would not, you will have to repaint over the years - and would lose the character of the house.

For less maintenance over time, I would paint. Stained wood where exposed to the weather will need restaining every few years. With high quality paint and proper prep, you should get 10 years from a good paint job.

Paint is also much easier to touch up.

There are various ways of removing the existing stain, and pressure washing is one, but you will damage the wood, so this is not recommended.

If you want to go with a lighter color, paint is your only option.

This rough sawn cedar was done 3 years ago on timber that had not been treated for 20 years. It is on a wall in an alcove that gets full afternoon sun at external temps of up to 50 Celsius.

You might also consider a bleaching oil or weathering stain to even things out. See this Ideabook for more information: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/design-workshop-natural-wood-siding-minus-the-maintenance-stsetivw-vs~26743807

I'm interested in more people weighing in on damaging the siding by pressure washing. I have the opposite problem, I would like to remove the paint down to the bare wood. Your house is lovely. Perhaps you can brighten it up by painting some of the trimming a lighter color. I agree the house looks really dark in the picture. But still lovely either way.

I have pressure washed these 20 year old boards several times on the advice of the paint product manufacturer and no damage has been done to any boards. I was told if you want to paint a solid colour over the boards you need to get the oil and dirt out of the grain first or the paint will peel and blister.

I am not opposed to stain, but this stain is too dark. The patch work will all be on the back side of the house. So with that in mind, I will have to see if wood bleach can lighten enough to stain a much lighter color. Thanks for the tips and leads.

try arbor coat stain removal it's a system that is used in conjunction with pressure washing it will restore the wood to bare wood and then you can stain with a lighter stain paint will last longer

Don't quote me on this, but I don't think wood bleach is intended to remove dark stain, as in stain the product--it's to lighten up stains, as in old water stains that turn black over time. So I think if you want to lighten the wood, you need to use something like what Robyn Gregg and Rockin' Fine Finish are talking about. (Although I admit I'm intrigued by the concept of "bleaching oil" and probably should read the ideabook above.)

My thought (and remember I am very lazy) is that this looks like a pretty big house, and thus, a big project, especially if you have to darken up the new wood so it will match the rest. Not impossible, but big. So--have you considered lightening/brightening the appearance of the house in other ways?
1. You could neaten up your landscaping and add some red or cedar mulch.
2. You could also consider adding lighter-colored stone or other decoration to the front facade.
3. Would a lighter-colored driveway be an option?
4. It also occurred to me that the strong contrast of your light window frames makes the siding look even darker. You might get a better look (ironically!) by painting them, unless they are a material that can't be painted. I'm thinking red, yellow or blue for a Scandanavian/European feel. (I'd stay away from dark green, you need something more fun with too-dark siding.)
5. Finally, what about the roof? If the house was bank-owned and the roof is old or in poor repair you could brighten the look of the home by choosing a different roof color when the time comes.

FWIW, I vote against painting. Cedar is a great wood, even if stained a color you wouldn't have chosen--so much nice texture!

We are redoing the landscaping. The roof has another 10 years. We are redoing the front entrance by adding a peak and timber beams. This is part of the puzzle!

What did you do? i have the same problem!!