 Doyle was born in Santa Cruz, California, and moved with his family at a very young age to Portland, Oregon, where he married Lucie Godley (1877–1953) and ultimately established his architectural practice.He began an apprenticeship with the firm of Whidden & Lewis in 1893 and remained until 1906, with the exception of two years in New York with the office of Henry Bacon.While with Whidden & Lewis he may have substantially designed the Forestry Building of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.