Somebody in the past had started to strip it, by the looks of it, then gave up ... there is an awful lot of work to be done to get it back into shape, but it could be nice in time. I'd place it earlier than mart, I'd say turn of the century, but difficult to tell from the pics.
$250 does sound an awful lot to pay at a yard sale for this piece ... did you get the price right figure that your dad paid?