Typically especially with the builders of this era home used a thin solid color stain on these homes. However at anytime an actual paint could be applied over it. If painting, any bare wood would need to be primed. My suggestion would be to either go with a sherwin williams brand paint(superpaint), or a semitransparant/solid color stain(woodscapes). When new it really looked nice with the new cedar. However, homeowners found out quickly that it didnt last. I painted over 1000 homes in pickerington alone for this season and on some streets went from neighbor to neighbor to neighbor. Look at your pm's if your looking for a good fair price.