In the end I left the winch controller on a bracket behind the grill. It is nice to reach the ON/OFF switch and see the blue indicator LED's without opening the hood, but I may regret this for other reasons. If I were starting over I would probably put the controller behind the right headlight where there is a nice amount of space for it. However, it seems like this would require longer cables...so factor that in if taking on this project.
Here are some pics showing Cascadia 4x4 "Flipster" license plate mount and LED fairlead, and Factor55 Flatlink. The switch for the LED is in the footwell above the brake pedal so that it is convenient to switch on/off either from the driver's seat or standing outside the vehicle. I imagine this will be handy for my rather frequent application - pulling people out of snowbanks.
After butchering the bumper reinforcement the fog lights were sagging, so I used some bolts plus trim adhesive to reinforce and tie the reinforcement to the bumper "skin". The result came out pretty nice - hopefully it will perform well over time.
Next up - Cascadia 4x4 solar panel for the hood! I'm tires of seeing "battery low - please start engine" error.