Doyle was born in Santa Cruz, California, and moved with his family at a very young age to Portland, Oregon,[1] 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.

[1] After securing the commission for a major addition to the Meier & Frank store, he formed a partnership with architect William B. Patterson, in 1908.

Doyle & Patterson's Revival- and Italianate-style works set the tone for other commercial buildings in Portland, especially the use of glazed terra-cotta.

A series of residential cabins along the Oregon and Washington coasts inspired a regional style that was widely emulated in the 1930s.

[7] Unbuilt works include additions to the now-demolished Portland Hotel (currently the site of Pioneer Courthouse Square) and to the Doyle-designed U.S. National Bank Building.

[8] The building ended up being built after World War II by Pietro Belluschi in its noted and early International Style design.