Flex-c-ment - Simulated Stone

I really hope we can swing an honest stone exterior, even if it means using "fake" stone blocks of cement to get the look.  I generally despise fake stone as it tends to look like exactly what it is - fake.  Monochromatic and repetitive tiling is also a drawback of that type of material.  Obviously some of these man-made materials can look quite good, but you can approach the cost of real stone with the higher end materials.  Here's something I happened across while doing a search for castles on the web, it's called Flex-c-ment and it uses a pressed-in pattern for creating the stone look.  They even have wood patterns too, which I thought was a nice touch for getting the rustic look without the rot.  It's up to the installer to refine the look and add good coloration to get the best out of the end product.  If they had classes to do this I'd consider using this method of getting the look without too much expense.  Searching the internet for faux stone or the like returns several manufacturers making the materials, perhaps there is an upsurge in popularity for this kind of facade.