An exterior wall system includes a pair of split vertical members. A front-load bay is defined between the pair of split vertical members. The front-load bay includes a horizontal member disposed along a bottom edge of the front-load bay. Each split vertical member includes a removable portion coupled to a vertical edge of the front-load bay and a fixed portion coupled to an adjacent section of the exterior wall system. The removable portion may be selectively coupled to the fixed portion to facilitate assembly of the front-load bay to the adjacent section of the exterior wall system. A sill starter is disposed horizontally between the pair of split vertical members below the front-load bay. The horizontal member engages with the sill starter to facilitate support of the front-load bay.