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Les fantômes vivent rarement dans les bois, et encore moins dans les maisons, fussent-elles à l'abandon.
This is the first time I’ve seen the Subjonctif Imparfait form in actual use, and with inversion to boot. The phrase seems to want to say something about "abandoned houses", but what exactly does it mean?
Also, is this construction used commonly in daily conversation?
It is a written, formal way of expressing something like "even if". A similar construction exists in English, with subjunctive and inversion, and similar meaning, e.g.:
Les fantômes vivent rarement dans les bois, et encore moins dans les maisons, fussent-elles à l'abandon.
Ghosts live rarely in the woods, and even less in homes, be they abandoned.
Note the special form of subjunctive used in these context for first-person cases:
Aussi, fussé-je seul contre tous, je défendrai Voltaire jusqu'à mon dernier soupir.
Therefore, be I alone against all, I will defend Voltaire until my last breath.
Even though grammatically any verb could be used this way, in practice I don't think there are many other verbs besides être (fussé-je, fusses-tu, fût-il, fussions-nous, fussiez-vous, fussent-ils) that are actually used with this construction. I've heard avoir and devoir, e.g.:
Eussé-je dit mille fois qu'il fallait m'écouter, cela n'eût servi à rien.
Had I said a thousand times that I should be listened to, it wouldn't have been any help.
With devoir:
Dussé-je en périr, je te serai fidèle jusqu'au bout.
Even if I should perish from it, I will be faithful to you until the end.
This form is quite frequently used in formal language. It is a means of conveying an afterthought as said by a commenter. The form is a very elegant and short equivalent to :
bien qu'elles soient à l'abandon.
In this sentence though, it is not necessary as an equivalent could be :
même à l'abandon
The equivalent in casual form would be :
Les fantômes vivent rarement dans les bois, et encore moins dans les maisons, même abandonnées.
But the Subjonctif imparfait adds an old fashioned charm to this sentence.
