Edward T. Foulkes graduated from M.I.T. with a bachelor of science degree in 1898. Following his formal training, Foulkes entered the office of Boston architect Clarence H. Blackwell as a draughtsman in 1899. He went on to work in the New York offices of Cass Gilbert (1901) and Carrere and Hastings (1912). Influenced by the Beaux-Arts training of his mentors, Foulkes headed to Paris in 1903 to attend the famed Ecole. In 1906 he returned to the U.S. and opened an office of his own in San Francisco, California. Later in 1910, Foulkes opened a regional office in Fresno after winning the design competition for the Hotel Fresno.