How Do You Become a Licensed Architect?

[CandyApple]

I think home improvement is probably the closest category this would fit in.

Every now and then, I've been fascinated with the idea of designing my own house someday. Over the past few days I've been doodling up different house ideas for fun, and you know, I've been liking it enough I thought it might be nice to design housing professionally. The thing is, while I wouldn't mind learning this stuff on my own, I don't want to go to boring, expensive college for years over a "that might be fun" kind of thing.

So, my question is, do you need to have a degree to be a licensed architect? What are the requirements to get a license? Do you need a license and/or degree to in order for buildings you designed to legally be built? Are plans required to be reviewed by someone (if so, who?) before construction begins?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the general process of things. I know you can put additions on your own house and such without a degree, but this would be a little different.

I figure design work is something I can do at home, so I'd be able to watch the little one and earn an income at the same time, which would be awesome.