I picture of the front of your house would probably be extremely helpful.

Hope these give context.

Sorry it wouldn't do 2 photos in same post

That one was from street level. This is front lawn level

I'd be hesitant to put a basement egress window in the front of the house. Can you instead make it just around the corner of the house on the far south side of the east (or west) wall?

The only thing I would be concerned about is keeping people from hitting their heads on the window box or falling into the window well from the yard. You need to draw an accurate section through the exterior wall and window well to be sure it will work.

When you approach the building department remember that the building code considers this to be an "emergency escape and rescue opening" that is not part of the required egress path from the basement.

Thanks for the comments, and I am still soliciting more viewpoints.

If we want the large double window, this is the only place possible in the entire basement. Someone suggested to the right around the corner (by the large shrub). That little area is only large enough for a single size window. But, It is also in a location that would not jump right out at people who come up the stairs. I am most concerned about what people will see when they come up the stairs to the front of the house. Technically I don't think we need to be so worried about the surrounding space for code for an egress window since this is exiting from a family room area and we will have a true (single) egress window in the area that will be designated as a bedroom area.

It seems like trying to have the double window egress is what is giving you the problem. Since another egress is not required by code I would only use the single window egress window in the bedroom and then use 3-4 over-sized hopper windows for light spaced strategically around the basement. Alternatively you could use bigger sliders with those metal window wells which are much less obvious then an egress window well.
I am personally not a big fan of the oversized window wells especially on an historically beautiful house such as yours.

Mary--

Thanks for the input. I don't understand what hopper windows are. Can you explain?

I just rode my bike around our neighborhood trying to look for examples of double egress windows in the front and actually found one in a house that has a brick window box in the front just like ours. So, the situation was very similar. It didn't look too terrible.

I agree that it isn't the window as much as the big hole in the ground that bothers me the most. The contractor has suggested a tiered planter look, and that has definitely been eliminated because those do look way too contemporary to fit in with our house. The other thing I noticed is that with a brick façade on the lower portion of our house the windows that look the best are the ones that are painted a color that blends right in with the brick rather than trying to coordinate with the regular trim color on the house.

The IRC now requires an "emergency escape and rescue openings" from a basement and from a basement bedroom but the one in the bedroom can also count as the basement emergency opening. A basement bulkhead also counts as an emergency escape opening. The required "egress" path is by a stair to the floor above or a door to grade that meets the minimum requirements of the egress section of the code which is separate from the emergency escape and rescue opening section.

Our final decision (I think) is to put in a nicely done row of windows on the front. Rather than the full blown more deeply excavated egress window, we'll do windows about two feet tall (about 1' of glass above ground and about 1' of glass below ground level) that do not require the deep egress well. These will only need a well of about 2' deep. This seems to be the best compromise as far as finding extra light in the basement and a look that matches our house.

Thanks all.