When Barry and Honey Sherman bought their North York property in 1985, they planned to spend $2.3 million to build their dream home.

But they noticed problems with the home within months of moving in, in 1991, with Barry describing it as “a disaster.”

After litigation against the house’s designers and builders, they wound up recouping $2 million of the contracted amount to construct the home, according to a 2006 judgment.

The civil litigation that involved both the Shermans, who were found dead in the house on Friday, was one of many Barry was embroiled in, and offers a rare glimpse into the couple’s private life.

They went on to sue at least five of the people and companies involved in the home’s design and construction, including Jack Winston Designs, Thomas Marzotto Architects and Ewing Construction.

All but two settled.

The remaining two defendants, 21 Degrees Heating and Air Conditioning and Walter Kenyon of Walter Kenyon Designs, had designed the home’s heating and air conditioning system.

The Shermans sued 21 Degrees and Kenyon for negligence related to the design of the HVAC system, and 21 Degrees for breach of contract.

According to the judgment, “Mr. Sherman testified that there were so many things done wrong with respect to the construction of the house that it was a disaster.”

Sherman, the founder of generic drug giant Apotex, was one of the richest men in the country, with an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion. He built Apotex from a two-employee company in Toronto into a global pharmaceutical organization that employs more than 11,000 people around the world.

Court records show Barry’s company Apotex was involved in about 150 civil cases in the Superior Court of Justice.

When Apotex announced the launch of Apo-Rosuvastatin, a generic version of Crestor produced by AstraZeneca, in 2012, they estimated their generic version of the drug could save the Canadian healthcare system up to $3.4 billion.