Install shingles of "straight-edged" fiber cement board in front porch gable. Removal of a portion of the non-original horizontal board siding reveals wood shingles which previously covered the gable.

WOOD
Historic Characteristics
Wood shingles, usually used on second stories or in gables, are no wider than four inches and may have been shaped in fishscale, squared, or diamond patterns.

7. An entire wooden feature that is too deteriorated to repair or is completely missing should be replaced in kind. If features are replaced, the materials they are made from should be compatible with the original in size, scale, and material. Replacement parts should be based on historical, pictorial, and physical documentation.

SECRETARY OF INTERIORS STANDARDS
6. Deteriorated features from the restoration period will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture and, where possible, materials.

7. Replacement of missing features from the restoration period will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence. A false sense of history will not be created by adding conjectural features, features from other properties, or by combining features that never existed together historically.

Excerpt from National Park Service's "Standards for Restoration and Guidelines for Restoring Historic Buildings"
"Using traditional materials to depict lost features is always the preferred approach; however, using compatible substitute material is an acceptable alternative in restoration because, as emphasized, the goal of this treatment is to replicate the appearance of the historic building at a particular a time, not to retain and preserve all historic materials as they have evolved over time."