Wreckorated: charcoal broiled

You know, the search words "charcoal siding" can bring up some very unexpected results. I didn't mean for them to be taken quite so literally. What I expected to see was a particular shade of dark gray house siding, but this is as good a serendipity as I could have imagined. Only, I couldn't have imagined. Thank you, Internet, for bringing me charred houses.

Traditional Japanese homes commonly used shou-sugi-ban as external siding. The sugi was burned to resist rot and fire (it's harder for something already charcoaled to catch fire again). The result is a board that has a dynamic appearance. From different angles it can look black, silver, or dark brown.