A family of 4 with 2 dogs mistakenly booked this 240-square-foot tiny house that was so small, half of the group moved to a hotel instead

• JJ Keefe accidentally booked a tiny house for four family members in August that was just too tiny.
• When they arrived, the family was shocked to see it was even smaller than they envisioned.

When Kylie Keefe and her brother Aidan Keefe pulled up to the house their dad booked for a family trip in the Adirondacks, they were in disbelief.

That's because the vacation rental their dad booked on Vrbo wasn't a traditional-sized home. Instead, it was a tiny house — a very, very tiny home, measuring just 144 square feet, plus a 96-square-foot loft.

Kylie told Insider she immediately knew there was no way she, her brother, stepmom, dad, and two labradoodle dogs would fit in the vacation rental.

In shock, all Kylie and her brother could do was laugh. They took a few videos of the funny realization, and Kylie posted it on her TikTok account @kyliekeefe2 on Thursday. In a matter of a day, the video gained more than 26 million views.

Here's what happened when they showed up.

The TikTok user's dad accidentally booked a tiny house

Four members of the Keefe family were traveling from Massachusetts to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, to drop Aidan off at college. The family planned to spend two nights in Canton getting Aidan settled.

In preparation, Kylie and Aidan's dad JJ searched for a hotel room. When the nearby Best Western was full, he turned to Vrbo where he found a listing for a tiny house that had "a queen bed in the loft and 2 sleeper chairs downstairs."

With three beds mentioned, Kylie's dad assumed there would be enough space for four people, Kylie said. So he booked the tiny house for two nights for $140.

As of Monday, August 15, the Vrbo listing stated there was room for three people. The Vrbo owner Courtney Chichester told Insider that the family had booked the tiny house for two adults and failed to mention any children or dogs.

On the day of the drive, Kylie and Aidan drove in one car, and JJ Keefe and Kylie's stepmom Erika Keefe were in another. When Kylie and Aidan pulled up to the vacation rental first, they were stunned by its small size.

"My dad pulled up behind us, and his initial reaction was the exact same," she said. "The first thing he said when he got out of the car was, 'I'll get you guys a hotel room.'"

Luckily, the nearby Best Western ended up having a vacancy, so Kylie and her brother stayed there while Kylie's dad and stepmom shared the tiny house.

But before the family split up, they toured the tiny house together.

When Kylie first stepped inside, she saw two pull-out chairs and an ottoman. Nearby was a ladder that led up to a lofted bed. Behind the living room area was the home's kitchenette and bathroom.

With all four family members in the lower level of the home, Kylie said there was little room to walk around.

Kylie shared her and her brother's initial reaction to seeing the tiny house on TikTok. Thousands of commenters asked for a tour of the 240-square-foot home.

Before Kylie could share the interior of the home, Chichester saw her video and stepped in to give their own tour under the account @acltinyhouses. Vrbo did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Kylie said she thought the tiny house was cute and that she was never making fun of the listing.

"I was making fun of my dad's error thinking that all four of us and two dogs could sleep in that home," she said.

While Chichester told Insider the initial video might have been made with positive intentions, she added that the family didn't "seem to understand the negative effect her Tiktok has and may cause on our small business."

Chichester said the video has not resulted in any increased bookings and that some of the videos posted by the Keefe family "were viewed in a negative way."

For instance, in an additional TikTok video posted by Kylie's stepmom under the TikTok account @amerika2147, she starts off a tour of the tiny house by saying "we're going to go in and do a full tour. Should take about eight seconds."

Chichester said the family left the house in disarray, which included one dog defecating multiple times in the lofted bedroom, and is "currently working with Vrbo to get damage reimbursement for the mess and damage left behind."