Can brick be replaced with siding? How do you do it?

We are considering buying a house. The problem is that we are going to have to add an addition. I don't really want to coordinate vinyl siding with it because the brick is a reddish color and would probably only coordinate with white siding (I'm not a big fan of anything white, houses, cars, etc.). I am thinking that we would probably have to replace the brick so that the exsisting house and addition would both be the same siding (either vinyl or cedar). So, my questions are: Can brick be replaced? How is it done...remove brick or cover brick with new siding? What about the cost? Will it end up being more expensive than it is worth and we should just wait until another home comes available that we are intersted in?